Mercy's Heart 2
by samcedeswannabe
Summary: Mercedes Jones finally makes a choice in her love life. But her happy ending won't happen so easily.
1. Chapter 1

Delores Jones held her head high as she walked down her schools hallway. She felt a vibration on her leg and pulled her phone out of her jean pocket and clicked the envelope icon. She smiled down at the message that she had received.

**Hey big butt, good luck on your exams this week :P –Your wonderful big sister **

Dee laughed and rolled her eyes at the message. She missed her sister a lot. It wasn't as if they hadn't communicated since she left, in fact they had spoken to each other pretty much every day. But she missed being able to go over to her house and just sit and talk with her while they cooked together and acted stupid. Well, Dee didn't really have much to talk about now, but she missed their long talks anyways. Lately she had been studying nonstop for about two weeks with her sister's ex boyfriend Stevie and that was pretty much all she had been focused on. She sighed, it had been a whole month since her big sister had left and she knew that she would be back soon-ish, but four more months seemed like torture to her. She adjusted her purse on her shoulder and reread the message and smiled.

She figured that the four months wouldn't be so bad since she usually hung out with Stevie, Sam, and Veronica on the weekends. They mostly went to movies together or the bar. They had tried to make Stevie go to a club with them once, but he had adamantly said no. She rolled her eyes. The man could be so boring and annoying sometimes, but he had helped her so much with her studying that she knew she would be forever grateful to him. She bent her head and typed a reply into her phone.

**Thanks loser, I think if I ace them you should come back forever as a gift- Love Dee, the cuter sister**

She pressed send and felt her phone fly out of her hand as she walked into something solid. _Shit! _She screamed internally as she watched her Iphone4 hit the floor. She quickly looked up and saw that the thing she had walked into was indeed a person. Her eyes widened as she stared at the man in front of her. He stared back at her as he fixed his large clear rimmed glasses. She had seen him in a lot of her classes before and he seemed like an honestly nice person from the way that he approached the material. Even though he wasn't much taller than her, she thought he was still very cute. She watched him bend over and pick up her Iphone and his Blackberry.

"I am so sorry," she said as he handed her the phone. He beamed a wide smile and shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. It's a pleasure to have a woman as fine as you walk into me." He winked at her and Dee raised her eyebrow, "I'm serious," he licked his lips, "you can knock me off my feet any day" Dee laughed at the man's mischievous grin and rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh." She quickly looked him up and down. She liked the way he styled his dark brown hair, it was slightly long in the front so he swept it to the side and he must have used some mousse because it kind of stood up. She noticed his surfer shorts and how strong his calves were. _Mhm...this man works out._ "Well, I'll be paying more attention next time so that it doesn't happen again." His grin slightly faltered and then it was back up. She started to walk away when he quickly moved into her line of sight.

"Personally I wouldn't mind if you did walk into me again sweet thing." A giggle escaped her lips and he smiled. "I've seen you before. You're in my class right?" she nodded.

"Yea, are you ready for the exam in like twenty minutes?" He shook his head.

"Hells no. Hence why I am headed to the cafe to get a coffee to calm my damn nerves." He smiled, "I would love to have a beautiful woman like you accompany me there." He wiggled his eyebrows and she laughed.

"Boy, I don't even know your name. For all I know you could be Charles Manson Jr. And I do not play around with that psycho shit." He laughed.

"That's true. Well let me fix that by introducing myself. I am a dancer extraordinaire, soon to be wonder vet for all animals." She raised her eyebrow, "But some people call me Artie McHale."

"Artie?...Well that's a different name." She put her phone in her coat pocket.

"Mhm...I like it, because the ladies can never forget it after meeting me." He ran his hand through his hair.

"You know for someone so short, you have A LOT of confidence." She placed her hand on her hip.

"I prefer the term fun size, but short is cool." He winked, "And who might this luscious lipped woman in front of me be?" Dee rolled her eyes but smiled.

"I'm Delores Jones, but my friends call me Dee." He licked his lips and extended his hand. She grinned and shook it.

"Delores Jones eh? Girl you got a famous ass sounding name." Dee laughed.

"I guess so." She shrugged and realised that she had a bit more studying to do before their exam. "Well I have to go, but I'll see you soon in class."

He looked at his watch and nodded in agreement. "Alright, it was nice talking to you Ms. Dee." He said while walking past her.

She turned around and looked at him. "I said my _friends_ call me Dee." She grinned at him and he looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Don't worry girl, you and I are gonna be real good friends soon." He winked at her and continued to walk towards the cafe. Dee shook her head and turned around. She walked to her class with a smile on her face.

* * *

Dee quickly left the classroom after the examination. She had expected to be cheering and feeling like she was on top of the world, but instead she felt miserable and disappointed with the way that she had answered the written components of the exam. When she did the practical and worked with her mentor veterinarian, she always felt confident and her mentor always assured her that she was more than amazing. But after the exam today, she felt that maybe she wasn't good enough to become a vet.

She bit her lip and angrily pulled her car keys out of her purse. She just didn't get it. She had studied for days and hours with Stevie and a lot of the time by herself, so it didn't make sense that she would feel so bummed out or that she would think that she failed. She adjusted her purse on her shoulder and grumbled out some profanities as she walked down the hallway towards the parking lot.

"Hey baby girl! Wait up!" Dee slowed down and rolled her eyes. She did not have time for this Mini wannabe Dre, with his cute ass and smooth words. She slowly turned around and faced the brunette man. "How you doing Brown Sugar?" he smiled as he caught up to her and she just stood there with an annoyed expression on her face. Registering her look, Artie's smile slightly fell, "By the look on your face...I'm going to say...you're not doing too hot." Dee sighed and bit her lip to hold back her tears. She was incredibly frustrated with everything and it angered her that she was falling apart right in front of a complete stranger.

"I'm fine...it's just that exam freaking was bad." He cocked his head to the side as he looked at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Because I've heard you answer in class before...and my beautiful goddess, you definitely know your shit." Dee grinned and looked down, "I bet you did better than you think...give yourself some credit my sexy jalapeno." Dee rolled her eyes and looked up at the grinning man.

"Artie...you are too much." She smiled, "But thank you...hopefully you're right." He smiled back at her.

"Where you headed to?" She was about to answer when she felt her phone buzz.

"Sorry can you give me a sec." She pulled out her phone from her pocket and grinned at the number calling her.

"Anything for you girl, I'd wait a billion seconds for you." He said eyeing her up and down. Dee resisted rolling her eyes and stepped away before answering.

"Hey." She said quietly into the phone.

"Hey, so how did it go! Did you ace it?" She sighed. "Uh oh, you're sighing. What happened?"

"I don't know Stevie... I think I fucked it up." She felt the sadness overwhelm her again as she thought about it.

"Dee...you did not fail. You knew so much the last time you were here." The gruff voice came from the other line. "I don't think you failed, you may not have done as well as you wanted to, but that's honestly the worst case scenario."

"I don't know...whatever, it's done now." She shook her head and her long locks fell over her shoulder. "I'm kind of busy now though."

"Alright, but don't beat yourself up over it. Are you coming over tonight to study for tomorrow's exam?" She wasn't sure. She slightly just wanted to be alone and not deal with anything else, "I have therapy after work, but you can still come over if you want." She bit the inside of her lip. She knew that therapy was taking its toll on him lately and that he would need some company.

"Yea, _I'll be thereeeeee, I'll be thereeeeeee...just call my name, and I'll be there."_ She sang to him and Stevie burst out laughing. "Don't laugh at my musical talents old foggie." She giggled, "I'll see you soon."

"Mhm, seeya youngin." She heard the click and looked back over at Artie who was pop and locking as he waited for her. She walked back over towards him.

"What in the hail are you doing?" she said while smiling at him. He stopped dancing and looked at her.

"It's what I do when I'm bored." He looked down at the phone in her hand, "Was that your man baby girl? Is he calling to make sure that no one's dipping their strawberry in his dark chocolate?" She slightly swatted his arm and he laughed.

"Ugh no, not even. That's my sister's ex. I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole." She cringed at the thought. "I don't have a boyfriend." She shrugged. Being in a relationship wasn't that important to her right now.

"Oh you DON'T? Oh you DON'T have a boyfriend? Oh ok, ok, ok, dats coo, yeah. So LISTEN, umm, I was wonderin', can I have yo numba? Can I have yo numba?" Dee started laughing.

"You are a damn fool." She shook her head and grinned. "How about we talk about your obsession with MadTv over coffee?" she smiled.

"Oh hell girl, you do not have to ask my skinny ass twice." He chuckled, "Ladies first." Dee turned around to walk and heard the short man behind her gasp in admiration of her assets.

"You better come and stand beside me before I put a foot up your ass Mr. McHale." She said over her shoulder. The man scurried beside her and the two walked side by side laughing on their way to the cafe.

* * *

She stood outside Stevie's door and waited for the taller man to open it. She looked around her and noticed that his next door neighbour always seemed to walk his dog when she was in the neighbourhood. She stared at him as he tipped his hat to her and licked his lips as he passed her. He looked her up and down and she pulled her jacket more tightly around her body. She shivered. _Nasty ass old man._ She heard the door open and turned to look at the tall blonde man. She was in a better mood thanks to Artie, so she smiled at Stevie. But he gave her a half hearted smile and she could see that his eyes were puffy. He stepped back to let her into the familiar setting.

"Therapy didn't go so well?" she said as she pulled off her coat to hang it up. He sighed and shook his head.

"Nope...you thirsty?" he walked towards the kitchen and she followed behind him.

"No I'm not thirsty." She placed her hand on his back and he stopped walking. "Come talk to me." She sat down at the dining table and patted the seat next to her. He reluctantly sat down beside her and he looked away from her. "So...what happened?"

He bit his lip and closed his eyes. "I don't know...she just brought up memories of my mom and ...I just remembered how unhappy she was. But she stayed there because of Sam and I...I just felt bad." He shrugged, "I kind of wished that I wasn't born at that point." She reached up and rubbed his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her and she saw the fresh tears fall from his eyes. She got up out of her seat and extended her arms to him. He slightly chuckled and rubbed his eyes. "I'm a mess." He got up and pulled her into a tight embrace. She took a deep breath and noticed that he smelled ridiculously good. _Girl stop that shit._

"No...you're human." She said into his shoulder as she rubbed his back. "And humans...have emotions and bad days all the time." He nodded his head into her neck and sighed. The feeling of his breath on her neck sent tingles down her spine. Her hand stilled for a moment as she thought about what that meant and then continued to rub his back as she ignored the sensation.

"Thanks." He sniffed and then pulled away. "I'm happy you're here to be honest. I really need a distraction right now." She grinned.

"Oh that's all I am to you huh?" She lightly poked his stomach and her finger met hard abs. Her mind flashed back to the night that she saw him shirtless. She shook her head at the thought that her sister hadn't even hit all that man muscle when she had the chance. He laughed and shook his head.

"No, you're an amazing friend. And I don't think I'd stay sane without ya." He lightly patted the top of her head and she gave him cut eye. He grinned and rubbed his hands together, "So let's get studying, shall we." Dee groaned and rolled her eyes.

"How about we go to a club and get stupid drunk and dance!" Stevie folded his arms over his chest and tutted in disapproval.

"When you become certified, I'll go to a club with you and the old man." Stevie grinned. Dee's eyes lit up.

"Seriously?" She hopped up and down and Stevie laughed. He put his large hands on her shoulders.

"Yea...yea, I'll do it. But only when you ace everything." He smiled at her. She smiled back and sat down at the table. He sat down beside her and the two discussed the material for her exam the next day.

* * *

Mercedes sat down in the rocking chair watching Andrea sleep. The little girl had been born with a heart defect and needed a lot of attention to make sure that she would be okay. She wasn't allowed to get too excited about anything, because it could give her heart failure.

Mercedes own heart hurt for the child. She couldn't imagine being a kid that wasn't allowed to have too much excitement in fear of having a cardiac arrest. It only motivated Mercedes to do everything in her power to let Andrea have as much fun as possible without her getting overly excited, so that she could still be a kid. The child's parents couldn't afford to be with her all the time, especially with the hospital bills. So Mrs. Christeen Rue made the grueling choice to go back to work and have a live in nurse take care of her daughter. They told Mercedes right off the bat that they wouldn't be able to pay too much, but she didn't care about the money. She had wanted to do everything in her power to take care of the little curly haired, brown eyed girl. As if Andrea could read her thoughts, she stirred in her sleep and Mercedes quickly looked her over. Even if she had a really bad nightmare, it could be bad for the five year old. Sometimes the stress of her weak heart pained her and Mercedes would gently rub her back and sing her to sleep. But her parents had just invested in a new medicine for her which seemed to be working. Mercedes felt a vibration in her pocket and quietly walked outside of the room. She pulled the door slightly closed.

"Hello?" She answered the phone as she peeked through the crack of the door to make sure Andrea was still asleep.

"Well hello to you too miss I don't have time to call my best friend Kurt in New York and make sure that he hasn't been killed by a mugger." Mercedes had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing. "Don't you dare laugh Ms. Mercedes Jones. I am seriously hurt that you have not called me in months, MONTHS!" She shook her head and walked a bit further from the door.

"Kurt you know I love and miss you." She smiled into the phone, "I'm sorry, I've just been going through a lot."

"Well don't I know it. Apparently you were dating two brothers and one was a psychotic lawyer. What the hell is up with that?" Mercedes inwardly groaned.

"And how pray tell do you have all that information?" she already knew the answer but she needed to make sure.

"Your mother of course. You know she tells my mom everything that is going on with you. Thank God, because for all I knew, you could have been in a back alley dead somewhere" Mercedes rolled her eyes, Kurt really needed to stop watching Criminal Minds and CSI. She sighed at the information he had just given her. This was exactly why she needed space from her mom. She was just too damn involved in her children's lives. "But that is besides the point. Why haven't you called me to check up on me, and Blaine, and the kids? Hmmmm, especially since one of them is _your_ Godchild."

"I know. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I'll make it up to you guys." She felt horrible. As much as she tried to do her best, she felt like she was letting everyone down.

"Well you can start by getting your butt over here to visit me for a month." She smiled and then laughed.

"Kurt, where will I get the money to do all of that? Huh?" She shook her head. Sometimes Kurt forgot that not everyone was married to a Broadway star.

"Why must you insult me with such questions woman? What is wrong with you? Of course I'd pay for everything."

"But Kurt..." she sighed. She hated being anyone's charity case. She may not have had all the money in the world, but she was very capable of taking care of herself.

"Don't but Kurt me, just get your butt over here. Or come hell and high water, I will come down there with my little family and we both know that Ohio can't handle me right now." He laughed and she realised she had missed that sing song voice of his.

"Come visit and stay where? On the couch in my little dinky apartment?" she twisted her ring, "You and I both know that wouldn't even be enough space for your luggage." Kurt scoffed.

"You underestimate me dear Jones. I'll have you know that I have cut back on my spending by one hundred dollars." Mercedes laughed, "And if I have to, I will come down there by myself to see you and the insanity that you have caused in my absence." As much as he was a lot to deal with, she was excited at the idea that he might be coming to visit her soon. She truly missed her best friend. She heard a commotion in the background, "WADE! You give your father back his makeup right now!" Mercedes giggled. She missed her six year old God son and his five year old brother Rory. The two were quite the pair and never ceased to make her laugh when she saw them. "Listen here young man! You wade your little butt over here this instant."

"My name's not Wade anymore! It's Unique." She heard Wade yell back at his father in the distance.

"Oh dear Lord. This is technically your child you know." Kurt sighed into the phone.

"I know, I know. But why does he want you to call him Unique now?" This was news to her.

"Because some little punk ass child in his private school said that Wade was weird and then he came home crying and I told him that he was beautiful and just unique. He wanted to know what it meant and I said it meant he was special. Ever since then he doesn't want us to call him anything but Unique." Mercedes smiled. The spirit in that little boy was enough to rival even Kurt's. "RORY!" Kurt yelled and Mercedes pulled the phone away from her ear. "Go chase after your brother and tackle him down."

"Okay papa, but can I have some pudding if I do?" She heard the five year olds thick Irish accent.

"Blaine! What did that child just say?" Kurt yelled out again, Mercedes heard a muffled voice in the distance. "Yes Rory you can have pudding, just go get your brother." Kurt and Blaine had adopted the kids when Wade was 3 and then Rory the next year when he was the same age. She had been so excited for them that they had decided to expand their small family. Even though Kurt was only 28 and Blaine was 27, which was considerably young. They had a lot of money pooled between them because they were both busy on Broadway, but Kurt had mostly found his calling backstage with designing. "He's only five and his accents as thick as New York's air pollution. I have trouble understanding him sometimes but it's like both Blaine and Wade are the Irish whisperers in the house." Mercedes let out a big laugh and quickly checked to make sure Andrea was still asleep. "Unique stop stealing your fathers Broadway makeup! We already bought you your own."

"But Papa Kurt! I don't have this colour in my set. Why do I have to share my stuff with father Blaine when he doesn't have to share with me?" She could hear Wade's strong clear voice in the background. She assumed he was standing right next to Kurt.

"You know it's a bad day, when your children start making sense." Kurt laughed into the phone. "Blaine, he has a point you know. You do borrow his eyeliner a lot."

"But Kurt..." She heard Blaine whine in the background. Mercedes shook her head at the absurdity of the conversation she was overhearing.

"Oh boy, Mercedes I have to go, Blaine is giving me the 'I need help signal'."

Mercedes laughed, "What's the signal?"

"He starts crying and then pouts. It's all very cute until he starts raking his hand through his gelled hair. Then you know we have a problem." Mercedes smiled, "Oh dear his hand is going up to his head. I have to go, but I'll call you back later so you can talk to Wade and then we can gossip."

"Alright Kurt, be good. Love you guys."

"Love you too woman!" she heard the click and put her phone in her pocket. She missed her family and friends. She spun her ring and decided to call Dee later. She needed to hear her sister's voice and make sure that she was okay. She walked back into the little girl's room and silently closed the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Month 2 of Mercy being gone

"So I think you are harbouring feelings of neglect because your mother wasn't always able to be there for you and you're dad was there, but not there emotionally." Emma Pillsbury touched Stevie's hand and leaned forward. Sam rolled his eyes as he listened to the red headed big eyed woman continue to drone on. "Stevie...I think you need a hug...let me hug you." Sam looked over at his sniffling brother. The younger man stood up and wrapped his arms around the shorter woman who immediately doused her hands in sanitizer afterwards. "Sam...You're awfully quiet today. Not even a wonderful sarcastic remark." Sam stared at her and sighed.

"Because I had a long ass day at work, Rachel refused to wear the better looking clothes I bought her, and I have to sit here and listen to you state the obvious." He picked some lint off of his shirt. "Listen here lady. Yea we we're neglected, but we're fine now. I did a damn good job raising Stevie and look how well he turned out." He looked over at his brother whose eyes were red from crying. "I mean, he's usually fine when he doesn't have to be here."

"Sam, I never said you didn't do a good job raising Stevie...but you are holding in a lot of hurt that you haven't let out since we started." She sat back down in her chair and smiled sadly at the brothers. Sam folded his arms over his chest and looked to the side. "Wouldn't you feel better by just letting go of all that sadness, hmm?"

"You know what? You're right. I am sad..." Emma smiled encouragingly. "I'm sad that I am wasting my life sitting on this couch that makes it seem like I have a serious case of flatulence every damn time I move." Emma started to frown. "It's also sad how many trees you must have killed because of those damn pamphlets you hand out. Seriously, who wants a pamphlet that says "You and your brother love the same woman, so why not try polyandry?" Sam heard Stevie snicker beside him. "That's the dumbest advice I've ever heard."

Emma slowly nodded. "So it's Mercedes that's weighing on you." Sam stared at her like she was stupid. "Have you spoken to her since she left?"

"That's none of your business." He said angrily. "My relationship with Mercy has nothing to do with your incompetence Dr. Pillsbury."

"The fact that you still call her by that name, and the fact that you just got so angry, shows me that you are really holding on to a lot of anger towards her for leaving and it tells me that her behaviour reminds you of a lot of women in your life who just suddenly left. Even though your mom didn't do it intentionally, she left you too and that still hurts you."

Sam quickly stood up, "This session is over. I don't need some therapist who's named after dough to fucking tell me how the hell I feel"

Stevie stood up and faced his older brother, "Sam. You promised..." He stared down the green eyed man. "You haven't even tried. How in the hell are we supposed to make any progress if you don't even bother trying?" he shook his head, "I'll do this alone. You're just making it worse." Stevie started to grab his coat and Sam pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yes! I'm angry! She left to make herself better and then did fuck all to help make _US_ better. I get it, she didn't want to make it worse, but running away? Really? How the fuck does that make anything better?" Sam's face was red and he was breathing heavily. "You wanted me to talk, there I fucking spoke. Now can I go?"

"No. Stevie can go though." Emma smiled kindly at Stevie and her bug eyes twinkled when she looked back at Sam. Stevie put his hand on Sam's shoulder and the two brothers nodded at each other before Stevie headed out.

"What more do you want from me Pillsbury dough boy?" Sam's hands clenched. He was extremely agitated and his outburst didn't help his mood one bit.

"Sam, I have something for you." She walked over to her desk and pulled out what looked like a notebook. "You don't like talking to me and I don't like making you angry. So I bought you a notebook so that you can write down your thoughts."

"First of all I'm not a 12 year old pubescent girl who has a crush on the popular kid Joey. Second, do you not watch movies? Shit like this always blows up and someone reads the journal and then everybody's mad. Therefore, I'm not doing it."

"I think it would help you a lot Sam...and I won't be reading it, it's just for your own eyes. It's a way for you to document any progress that you see happening in your life." She smiled.

"Do I still have to come here?" Sam eyed the book.

"Yes."

"Then hell no."

"It's a Spiderman notebook."

"Give me that shit." Sam took the book out of her hands and admired the cover. "You're an evil woman Pillsbury, you knew I couldn't say no to Spiderman." He grinned at her. "I think my respect for you just grew to two."

"Considering that all you spoke about for the first two weeks was about how much you liked comics...it was pretty easy to know what to do."

"Just because I took this doesn't mean I'll write my thoughts down, I might just draw nice pictures." Sam stuffed the notebook in his briefcase.

"If that's what helps you...then so be it." She grinned, "Have a good day Sam."

"Oh now you're dismissing me now that we're finally talking?" He smirked.

"We can keep talking, but you'll have to pay me for the next hour." Sam raised his eyebrows.

"What's the difference between a hooker and a therapist?" He said as he walked over to the door. Emma furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms over her chest.

"I..I don't know." She said with a hint of annoyance.

"Nothing, they both charge by the hour." Sam grinned and ran out of the office. He walked over to the elevator and saw Stevie standing there waiting for him. "Hey little bro."

Stevie smiled and looked at his brother in curiosity. "What you just said in there...is that how you actually feel?" Sam shrugged.

"I wanted to leave. I have a lunch date with Ronnie in twenty minutes." He pressed the button for the elevator to come up.

"So you're not angry with Mercedes?" Stevie stuffed his hands in his coat pockets.

"Never said that. Just said I have a lunch date with Ronnie." The elevator doors opened and Sam walked inside with Stevie following behind him. "Aren't you mad?" Sam looked at his brother from the corner of his eyes. "She pretty much wronged you too, probably more than me." Stevie rested his blue eyes on his brother.

"I don't know...I'm too busy right now to be mad." He looked at his watch. "I'm busy with my animal clinic, I'm busy helping Dee, I'm busy being here and having all this shit just rise up from the depths of hell...I don't have time to think about Cedes."

Sam nodded. "Do you miss her?"

"I...yea, maybe. I guess, I don't know." Stevie looked down at his feet. "I try not to think about it or her. It's only going to hurt whatever progress I've made." He quickly looked at Sam. "I don't hate her though. I'll never hate her."

"I don't hate her!" Sam said loudly.

Stevie laughed, "Never said you did old man..." He sighed, "Yea I miss her. It's kind of why I kept Dee around at first, because then I kind of felt like Cedes was there. But Dee is no Mercedes, she's a lot different. She's..." He shook his head and his eyes lit up, "She's something else. Young though."

Sam chuckled. "Yea, I know...how can two siblings be so alike and different?" The brothers looked at each other and both started laughing. "Forget that I asked that." The elevator stopped at the basement and they walked in the same direction to their vehicles. Stevie climbed on to his bike and Sam sat in his car. "Be safe man, I'll kill you even if you're dead."

"I'm good old man. I know you can't handle this, but I'm the better brother so you know, I'm just good at everything." He smirked and put on his helmet.

"Stevie, I might be older, but I'll still fuck you up man." He could hear the echo of Stevie's laugh and watched as his brother waved and drove off. Sam closed his car door and sat staring at the wall in front of him. He envied his brother for the fact that he was able to go about his life without constantly thinking of the doe eyed shorter woman. Whenever Sam had a moment to relax, she was on his mind. He sometimes wondered if she was okay, or if she had met someone...he sometimes wondered if she was even going to come back. He shook his head and thought about how everything blew up before she left and how he had tried to warn her. The anger began to creep back into his mind. He narrowed his eyes and drove off to meet Veronica at the cafe down town.

* * *

Sam walked into the cafe and looked around for the tall brunette woman. He spotted her reading a menu and smiled as he walked towards her. "Hey." He said, once he reached the table. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Hey yourself, I ordered you coffee." He smiled and sat down in front of her. "I know how you take it so..." she shrugged and continued to scan the menu in her hand.

"You're such a bitch for ordering me coffee." He said sarcastically. She looked up at him and grinned. "Thanks."

"Anytime. So how was the session with the red haired deer as you so lovingly call her?"

Sam stirred the coffee and took a sip, it was perfect. "Same old, well actually she gave me a notebook. I only took it because of the Spiderman animation on the front of it." Veronica laughed and shook her head.

"Did you actually talk today?" Sam shook his head and sighed.

"No...well, is snapping like a twig and telling her that I'm pissed off considered talking?" Veronica's eyes widened.

"You spoke about Mercedes?" She put the menu down and stared at him. "What did you say exactly?" Just then a waitress came by and told them about their desert choices. Sam ordered a sandwich and Veronica ordered a croissant. The girl smiled and walked away. "So?"

"So?" Sam stared at her and smirked.

"What happened? Did you tell her everything?"

"I told her that I was pissed off that Mercedes left. I told her that her leaving was, in my opinion, stupid." He tapped the side of his cup.

"Good. You need to let her know what's going on with you Sam. I love that you sometimes tell me things, but she's the one with a damn PhD." He shrugged.

"I also compared her to a hooker." Sam smiled.

"Mercedes?" Veronica's eyebrows went up.

"No, Pillsbury." He smiled, "I wouldn't call Mercedes a hooker."

"No, but she was a heartbreaker. The sooner you get over her, the better it will be for your progress. Like look at Stevie. He's doing a lot better. He's not playing with fire as much. And you've actually been a bit better since she left." She reached over and took Sam's hand in her own. "I sound harsh, but I don't want to see you revert back to just closing up."

"I'm over her...I'll be over her." He quickly squeezed her hand and then let go to hold his cup.

"Yea, you will be when you start letting the big eyed woman help you." She slightly chuckled and their food was brought to them. Sam felt his phone vibrate and took it out to read the message.

"Oh...Dee wants to know if we want to go clubbing with her tonight, in celebration of her passing all of her examinations and becoming a certified vet." Sam smiled at the phone. He was proud of her and he knew she had worked hard. He figured if he ever had a kid sister, she would be just like Dee, saucy and smart.

"Definitely, just remind her that we're old folks of thirty one, so when we dance she might hear creaks and groans." Sam laughed.

"Speak for yourself, I still tell attractive women that I'm a twenty five year old successful lawyer." Veronica rolled her eyes.

"That's kind of pushing it don't you think. Remember that gray hair we found the other day."

"Hey! We do not talk about that hair...it's dead now and never existed." Sam smiled and chewed on his sandwich. The phone vibrated again and he almost choked on his sandwich as he started to laugh.

Veronica gave him a weird look, "What?" she said in between chews. "Why are you laughing?" He turned the phone so that she could read the message. "Wow, good luck to her." Sam nodded and sent Dee back a message saying that they were going to come and good luck on getting Stevie to come to the club with them.

* * *

Dee stood outside the familiar door and prepped herself not to take no as an answer. Stevie promised her that he was going to go clubbing with them if she passed all her classes and became certified. And she planned on making him fulfill his promise. She rang the doorbell again and placed her hand on her hip. She heard the hurried footsteps coming towards the door and quickly fixed her black dress and adjusted the red belt around her waist. Stevie flung the door open and his mouth formed into a silent o as he scanned the shorter woman's attire.

"Um...wow." He said as his eyes finally landed on her face, "Kind of dressed up to hang out with little ol' me, don't you think?" Dee smiled and looked behind him.

"Are you going to keep me standing out here? These red pumps are cute, but they're not really that comfortable." Stevie moved back so that she could enter the house. "So guess what!" She made her way to his loveseat and sat down. He stared down at her expectantly, but she didn't say anymore.

He rolled his eyes and grinned. "What?"

"I passed all of my exams and will soon be certified." Stevie's eyes lit up. "And I have you to thank for everything."

"Wow congrats. I knew you'd be able to do it." He nodded to himself, "I'm proud of you." She stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist. He rubbed her back and she sighed into his chest. She leaned back without letting him go and he stared down at her with an odd expression on his face. He began to blush and pulled away from her. "So are you here to celebrate with me? I don't really have anything to celebrate with."

Dee grinned, "Something like that. Remember that promise you made me a few weeks ago?" Stevie scratched the back of his neck and looked down at the younger woman.

"Did I promise you ice cream or something? Or a kiddie meal?" He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.

"You're a damn fool. That's why I don't feel bad about making you come clubbing with me tonight." Stevie paled and shook his head.

"I'm not going." He put his hands up, "That's young people stuff. I can't dance."

"Stevie! You promised, and I worked my ass off. The least you could do is come and get wasted with me." She stomped her foot.

"I can't get wasted Delores, I have a clinic to run in the morning." He folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine, at least come and hang with me, Sam, and Ronnie." Stevie groaned and rubbed his face, "Listen here you blonde blue eyed old man, you promised me something and I'd be pissed if you went back on your word." Dee pouted.

"Okay! Just don't do that thing to your face. It makes me feel like I kicked a damn Chihuahua." She smiled and he huffed before walking into his bedroom to find some clothes. She waited in the living room and texted Artie and her friend Santana. "I have nothing to wear, I can't go." She rolled her eyes and walked into his room to see him standing shirtless in front of his closet. He turned around to look at her and her eyes raked across his firm chest and abs.

"How the hell do you have muscles?" She stared at the sculpted body, "All you do is lift cats for a living." He laughed and looked down at his body.

"I work out before I sleep, it helps to make me tired enough so I don't really have nightmares." He shrugged and cleared his throat. "Earth to Dee." He waved his hand in front of her face and she looked up.

"Right! Sorry, clothes for your muscles, I mean body." She walked to his closet and skimmed through the clothes, "You have like old man things." She pulled out a pink top. "Really? Did you really buy this?"

"It looked good on me..." he looked unsure of his decision now.

"Okay sure," she turned back around and handed him a black polo shirt. "Wear those dark blue jeans you have." He sighed and pulled out the pair out of a drawer. "Good now hurry up and put it on."

"I need to shower first." Dee rolled her eyes and walked back into the living room. Half an hour later, Stevie entered the living room as he fussed with his watch. Dee looked at how the shirt hugged him and grinned at her choice.

"You're so getting some tonight." She nodded in approval and he raised his eyebrows. "Oh God no not me, I meant some drunk broad."

"Oh thanks, I'm happy you think I can get someone so good." He smirked and then sighed, "Can you help me with this?"

"I'm not getting up, so you better come over here." He walked over to the love seat and went down on his knees in front of her. She took the watch from him and he placed his left hand on her bare thigh as she fastened the watch on to his right. She glanced at him and saw that his eyes were trained on her hands. She could feel her palms getting sweaty and she licked her lips. _This is your sister's ex, stop it stop it stop it, you don't want to go to hell girl. There are some nasty ass ugly people down there._ As if hearing her thoughts he looked at her and she looked back down at the task at hand. "There." She smiled and he stared at her as if he was studying her face before he got up.

"Thanks, let's go."

Stevie paid their cover and they walked side by side into the busy club. "Oh God," she heard Stevie say out loud as he took in the commotion.

"Oh shut your vage grandpa, you're going to have fun." She looked around but couldn't see above people because she was too short. "Do you see Sam and Ronnie?" Stevie looked down at her and said nothing. "Ok fine talk!" He smirked and pointed to a table to the side. He walked ahead of her and Dee got stuck in between the people. She began to panic but then she felt a strong hand grab hers and pull her through the people. She looked up into the blue eyes and smiled. "Thanks."

Stevie smiled back, "No prob." They walked to the table and Sam and Ronnie stared at them with matching confused expressions.

"Um...are we missing something?" Veronica looked down between them and Dee realised that they were still holding hands. They quickly let go.

"No, no, he's old, she's a child, she got lost, I got lost." They fumbled over each other and Veronica and Sam laughed.

"Just sit down and get drunk." Sam smirked at the two and they sat down as told. "Congratulations Delores, we're very proud of you and we knew you'd pass."

"So that means that ya'll are paying for all my drinks tonight then, right?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"I don't recall saying that in my speech, but fine, we'll pay for your little munchkin ass." Dee smiled and pulled out her phone.

"I'll be right back." She put the phone to her ear and walked away. Sam turned to look at Stevie and raised his eyebrow at the younger man.

"What? Don't look at me like that. Nothing happened, I was trying to pull her through the crowd and didn't want her to get swept back in." Sam threw back his rum and coke and laughed.

"Sure little bro. Hey, I wouldn't blame you. She's beautiful." He pulled his other drink closer to him.

"Yes, I'm not disputing that!" Stevie said loudly over the music, "I'm just...I wouldn't date her, she's young and she's Cedes' little sister!" Sam smirked and then quickly looked up to see Dee approaching them with a Spanish woman and a shorter guy with glasses.

"Hey guys, these are my classmates Santana Lopez and Artie Mchale." Dee said cheerfully as she introduced everyone. "We're going to dance, are you guys coming?" The trio shook their heads.

"Ronnie and I will be there soon." Sam said as he drank his alcohol. Veronica nodded and sipped her margarita.

"I'm good sitting here thanks." Stevie sat and studied his nails. Dee rolled her eyes and walked to the dance floor with her friends.

"So Santana's your name huh?" Artie said standing closely to the long haired woman. "Mmm girl the back of yo head is ridiculous and..." he circled around her, "damn you are as fine as wine."

Santana put a disgusted look on her face, "Who does he belong to? And can we please take him away before I put him down." Dee laughed at the two and shook her head.

"Seriously, you are the woman of my dreams." Artie stared at her with puppy eyes.

"Don't listen to this fool, he said the same damn thing to me." Dee laughed.

"No, I told you that you're going to be my baby mama. This woman right here is going to be my wife." Dee smacked Artie on the back of his head and Santana pinched him. "Ya'll are some cruel mean spirited women."

"Let's get some liquor guys." Dee said and they walked to the bar and threw back some tequila shots. Dee felt buzzed but she wanted to feel drunk, so she bought some porn star shots and threw those back too. She looked over at her friends and saw they looked just as drunk as she did. She looked at Santana's phone and realised that they had been standing at the bar for half an hour. Someone placed their hand on her back and she spun around to stare at Stevie. "Yayyyy, are you getting booze?" she screamed up to him.

"No a napkin." She frowned and rolled her eyes.

"You're so old! You're no fucking fun man! live a little." She sipped on her next shot.

"If I'm so old then I'd say I've lived a lot." He stared at the shot in her hand. "Haven't you had enough?"

"No! I haven't had enough." She smirked and threw back the shot. "Come...come dance wif me." she said sloppily.

"No." Stevie looked at her in disapproval. She rolled her eyes and grabbed Artie's hand. She pulled him to the dance floor and bent over to grind with him. He held her waist and threw back his head.

"Damn girl, you be knowin what you working with. Baby turn around and let me see that sexy body go bump bump bump." Artie yelled over the music as Dee ground her booty into his groin. "Shit man, it's my birthday, no it ain't, but it feels like it is. Hot damn!"

Stevie stared at Delores' retreating back and glared at the shorter man with glasses. The girl named Santana smiled and shrugged at him. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dance floor as she shouted out words in Spanish. He moved to a spot where he could watch Dee and the four eyed one. The long haired woman bent over in front of him and grinded her backside into his man area. Stevie's eyes widened as he stared down at what was happening in horror. He looked back up and saw that Dee was now facing the four eyed man and was pretty much humping his leg. Stevie growled and walked away from Santana towards Dee.

"Delores Jones!" He said above the music. "What would your sister say if she saw you right now?" Dee looked over at him and tried to focus her eyes.

"She'd say go Dee! Go Dee! It's your birthday, not for real real, but for play play." She laughed and leaned heavily on the man in front of her. Stevie wrapped his arms around her waist from behind her and pulled her into his chest.

"What the hell man, didn't you see that the lady was having a good time fool?" Artie stared at Stevie in dismay. Dee stomped on Stevie's foot and spun around. He clutched his foot in pain.

"Oh whoops, hey Stevie wanna dance?" She turned around and pushed her round tush into his groin. Stevie had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from moaning. _She's your ex's little sister, she's your ex's little sister with a nice sexy body that is grinding on you right now and you haven't had sex in years and..._ Stevie shook his head and stopped her from moving her hips. "You're so boring Stevie! Ugh I want to go home." She moved away from him and walked to Artie.

"Girl I can take you anywhere, I'll take you to the store if you want some chips and dip, girl, you want some chips and dip, cuz I can get you some chips and dip." A drunken Artie rambled on. Stevie felt his face grow warm.

"I'll take her home." He took her hand and walked her to the door. The bouncers stood in front of them and asked her if she knew Stevie.

"Yea, he's my sisters boring ol ex who helped me pass school." She rambled and they nodded and let them go through.

"Wow, don't hold anything back Delores." Stevie said between his teeth as he helped her into his car. "Don't you even think about throwing up." He warned her.

"I do what I want." She leaned her head back on the chair and closed her eyes. After some time, she felt someone shake her and quickly opened her eyes.

"We're here." Stevie looked her over to make sure she was coherent. "Dee, do you understand."

"Yes...I'm not stupid just...drunk." She opened her door and tried to get out but felt like she was being choked.

"Oh good God," She heard Stevie mutter.

"I'm trapped in the closet, save me R. Kelly." She wheezed out. Stevie leaned over her and she inhaled his cologne. "Damn Stevie, you smell good." He mumbled something and clicked her seatbelt open. He caught her in his arms as she slid out the door and walked with her to her to the main door of her apartment building.

"Where's your key?" He asked her. She stared at him like he was speaking in another language.

"Where's my purse?" Stevie didn't recall her leaving with her purse. He thought back to the club and realised she left it at the table with his brother. He groaned and dragged her back to the car and buckled her in. "What's happening?"

"You're coming home with me." He sighed and drove back in the opposite direction. Dee looked over at him and saw that his jaw was clenched. She rolled her eyes and fell back asleep. When she opened her them she realised that she was staring at the ground. She looked around and saw a nice firm butt moving. _Am I in heaven?_ She heard a door open and closed her eyes because the bouncing of her body was making her head swim. She felt herself be gently dropped on to a soft material. Dee opened her eyes and stared up into blue concerned ones.

"You don't have alcohol poisoning do you?" Stevie said as he loomed over her. Dee grinned and reached up and brought his lips to hers.

* * *

Delores woke up with a very bad headache. She clutched her head as she rolled over on the bed. She shivered and pulled the warm blankets up to her chin. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around at the unfamiliar, yet familiar bedroom. She quickly sat up and winced at the throbbing behind her eyes. _Why am I so damned cold?_ She looked down at her naked breasts and blinked quickly. _What! no no...oh my God...where are my clothes?_ She slowly scanned the room and found the clothes on the ground. _Oh Jesus, I had sex...I had sexual relations with my sisters ex boyfriend, and it must have sucked because I don't remember anything._ _I had higher expectations for him. _She swung her legs over the side of the bed and scrambled to throw on her clothes. _Where's my purse?...where's my phone? _ She panicked and ran into the living room where she looked at the time. _One in the afternoon? Really?_ She looked around and saw her purse on the table beside a piece of paper. She slung the bag over her shoulder and pulled out her phone. There were 15 text messages and 8 missed calls. She groaned and rubbed her face before calling a taxi. The minute she heard a car pull up the drive way she ran out of the house and told herself to never look back. Sleeping with Stevie didn't bother her, the fact that he was her sister's ex boyfriend was definitely going to cause some problems.


	3. Chapter 3: Month 3 Of Mercy being gone

Sam rolled his eyes as he sat across from the red headed woman. She was looking through his Spider man notebook and admiring the pictures he had drawn in it. Every few seconds her eyes would widen drastically or a little laugh would slip from her lips. Her silence was what was annoying Sam the most as he sat there staring at her, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Bothers you doesn't it?" She said quietly as she kept her eyes down and continued to survey his work. Sam sat up straighter and raised his eyebrows at the random question. "The fact that you can see my expressions, but don't have a damn clue as to what I'm feeling or thinking." She finally looked up at him and grinned. Sam scowled and looked down at his hands. He had lost a case earlier that day and it had been for someone who he had actually grown fond of over the last few months. The outcome wasn't because he hadn't tried hard to protect the man, it was because as innocent as the older man looked, he was guilty as sin for the crime committed. He had been internally stealing from his own fathers company and his father had had enough of it and charged his son for internal theft. Sam figured that he must have rooted for the son because the father's attitude reminded Sam too much of his own father's and he didn't like it. "Oh God, is this me?" The big eyed woman turned the notebook around to show Sam a picture of a deer with red hair drawn in red pen, the very same pen that Sam had Rachel specifically go out and buy a pack of for the purpose of drawing the picture. Sam snickered and folded his hands in his lap.

"What? no...that's Bambi...with a new hair do. I think the red brings out his very large eyes." He grinned and reached his hand out for the notebook. Emma rolled her eyes and smiled as she handed it back to him. "And to answer your question...yea, it does fucking bother me." Emma nodded and leaned back in her chair to get a good look at him. "Why did you call me in here anyways Pilsbury? it's not our therapy day and Stevie's not here so..." Sam paused as a thought occured to him, "are you trying to get me to sleep with you because as flattered as I am, I'm just not into doing deers...my dad was kind of hill billy and God knows what he was in to, but... sorry I have to decline. And to be honest, every time I see you I want to ask you if you still hold a grudge against the hunters that shot your mom." Sam grinned and shoved his notebook back into his briefcase.

"First of all, you're an idiot and second of all, I'm engaged to be married, oh and third of all I really don't like touching or involving myself with dirty things...so sex with you is forever out of the equation. I'd have to shower with gallons of hand sanitizer for a month just to feel even remotely clean again if I slept with you." Sam's eyes grew wide and then he let out a loud deep laugh.

"Well doc...didn't think you had that in you. But I can't lie and say that I wasn't impressed with that answer." He nodded and smiled, "So then...what is it? Why am I here?" Emma leaned forward and looked deeply into his eyes which made him feel uncomfortable, so he looked to the side.

"I wanted to talk to you alone without Stevie being here as a distraction. I know you love your brother, but you're very protective of him, even though he's twenty nine years old and very capable of taking care of himself."

"He's my brother. Of course I'm going to want to protect him regardless of his age." He shot back defensively, "You don't pretty much raise someone and not feel the need to always protect them."

"I understand that, but you're not his parent. You're his brother...Sam, you act a lot like the parents who I have seen come in here for family therapy...and if there's one thing I know, is that parent's lie and keep things from their children. And as close as you two are, I feel like you are hiding things not only from me, but also from Stevie."

"Well of course I had to keep shit away from him...he was too young to understand at the time and I didn't want to hurt him. You probably wouldn't understand that because you don't have kids." He folded his arms over his chest and stared hard at the woman.

"You're right Sam...I don't have children...but neither do you. You both have parents and from what Stevie says, they are amazing people." Sam rolled his eyes and let out a bitter laugh.

"They're not our parents. Our parents are dead." Emma sighed and shifted in her seat. "They tried to replace our folks and it didn't work out that way."

"I haven't spoken to them personally...but I don't believe that was their motive." She reached out and lightly touched Sam's knee. "I think they were two adults who wished to love you and your brother as their own...and I want to know why you resisted as a child and why you're still resisting against them now."

"I'm paying you to analyse the situation, so shouldn't you know? Or are you as incompetent as I think you are." Emma quickly removed her hand from Sam's knee and a look of anger crossed her face.

"I think you wanted to be the only one who could have any say over your brother and that you took on an unhealthy role that not only consumed you but managed to destroy a good relationship that you could have had with those people. But you were a terrified little child who would do anything to protect your brother which meant hardening yourself against any type of external love. Hence why you lash out at anything and anyone who even tries to get close to you or Stevie." She finally took a deep breath and Sam looked away from her. "If you ever want to heal and have progress in your life, you need to start repairing past relationships not only with your brother, but anyone you've had a problem with. It's the only way that you can let all of that anger go."

"I'm not fucking angry for trying to do what I was fucking told to do when I was ten fucking years old!" Sam got off the couch and loomed over the woman. "Do you know how it feels to have someone else's life become your god dammned responsibility, when you hadn't even hit puberty yet? CAN YOU EVEN COMPREHEND HOW FUCKING TERRIFYING THAT IS FOR SOMEONE!" Sam was shaking so badly that he didn't even realise he had dropped his things to the ground. "YOU CAN NEVER IMAGINE HOW HARD MY LIFE WAS AT TEN YEARS OLD! I LOST MY PARENTS AND I GAINED A CHILD!...I was a fucking child and I became somebody's parent..." Sam fell to his knees and cradled his head in his hands. "I couldn't stop worrying about him...I couldn't hand over my responsibility to them..." He choked out as hot tears fell down his face. "I wanted to do what I was told to do...that's why I didn't let them adopt us when they asked me...I guilt tripped Stevie into saying no to them too..." He looked up and stared at her with green eyes that were rimmed with a deep red. "Why the hell did I do that...?" Emma slowly got on to the ground and pulled the grown man against her. She rubbed his back as he leaned his head against her shoulder. "Emma...I'm so fucking tired..." She shushed him and quietly rocked his body against hers.

"I know..." She said quietly against his head. "...now what are you going to do about that?" Sam pulled back from her and wiped his face on his sleeve.

"I'm thirty one years old...what can I do now? I live on my own, I have my own business..." He shook his head.

"Are you okay not having a relationship with your foster parents?" Sam dragged his hand through his hair and realised that he surprisingly wasn't okay with it. Every time Stevie mentioned something funny that Joe or Diane said, Sam had wanted to be a part of it too. His foster mother called him every other Friday to make sure he was okay after the accident, but he had always kept the conversations short. He didn't know if he would ever call her mom or Joe dad, but a part of him knew that it was something that he would want to do some day. He sighed and looked at the red haired woman.

"What are they going to want with me now?" He stood up and reached down and pulled Emma up beside him. She held on to his hand and turned to him.

"Well...why don't you ask them and find out?"

* * *

Sam nervously sat in his car across the street from the Wallace's and stared at the older familiar house. It had been a week since his therapy session and he had finally made the decision to go and speak to his foster parents. He hadn't been back to his childhood home in almost eight years. He had only gone the time before because Stevie had begged him to come that Christmas and Sam hadn't wanted to let his little brother down. It was by far the most awkward experience of Sam's life and it had been even more painful then all of the other Christmases that they had in that house. Believe it or not Sam had been even more ill tempered in his early twenties and an off handed remark from his foster father had set him off and a huge argument had taken place. As Sam sat there he couldn't even remember what the comment had been, he just remembered the email that Joe had sent him a week after it all happened while Sam was still in school studying for his license. It had been a two page filled apology over the insignificant comment that he had made and Sam being hot headed deleted the email and hadn't spoken to his foster father since then. It was no sweat off his back to eliminate a relationship with a father figure, it had been what he had tried to do all of his life. Not because Joe wallace wasn't an ideal father, because in all honesty he was, it was because Sam continued to harbour resentment against any man he could associate with his own father. Sometimes he wondered if he could ever be a father himself in fear that his own child would hate him the way that he had hated his own dad.

He sighed as he looked at his steering wheel and tried to comfort himself with the thought that he still sent them both Christmas and birthday gifts every year through his brother. Sam 's eyes wandered over to the notebook that innocently rested on the passengers seat. He slowly picked it up and put it in his lap. He flipped through the book until he reached a written entry that he had penciled the night before after a vivid and detailed nightmare had suddenly woken him up. The therapy sessions were beginning to trigger memories in his mind that he had repressed for years and they completely terrified him. Well the others hadn't been so bad, but the nightmare/memory had pushed him to talk to his foster parents the very next day. He closed his eyes and remembered the house that he and Stevie had been taken to the night after the fire. There had been an older woman with graying brown hair who had welcomed them into her home. From what Sam could gather from the conversations between her and their social worker, the woman's husband had left her for someone else a few years before. Apparently he was a television producer who had fallen in love with one of the stars on his show. Sam thought Henry was a very peculiar name for the woman her husband supposedly ran off with.

_"I'll take care of them as if they were the children I was never fortunate enough to have. They will have all the food that they can ever want here and there's a school just up the street so that they can have all the education in the world." She smiled fondly down at the boys, but Sam was too tired to really pay attention to her. He looked over at Stevie, who was sitting quietly beside him and squeezed his hand. The blue eyed boy looked over at his older brother and tried to smile._

_"Yes, we've read your report and feel that the boys will be in very good hands with you Mrs. Murphy." The social worker looked over at Sam and winked, "I'd like to just have a quick moment with the boys if that's okay?"_

_"Oh of course, I'll just go and make sure that their room is perfect. I hope they like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." She smiled over at them and walked down the hall. The social worker walked over to Sam and knelt in front of him and Stevie._

_"What do you guys think? Do you like it here?" She asked quietly. Sam looked into her brown eyes and then slowly nodded. "Okay good, she's a very nice lady, but if you ever feel like you need me or if something just feels wrong call me okay." She handed Sam a card and he looked over the number that was on it._

_"Okay..." he said quietly. The social worker stood up and patted the boys on their heads. "What's going to happen to us?" He finally choked out the question that had been bubbling up in his head. He was primarily concerned that the police men were going to find out that Stevie killed their parents and arrest him._

_"Well, you'll see if you like it here and then we'll come check on you every week until we make sure that you and Stevie are okay." Sam nodded and looked at his brother. "I have to go, but don't forget to call me alright?" She smiled and called out for the woman who promptly came back to the living room. "I have to go now, but thank you again for taking in the boys."_

_"No problem at all." She smiled and walked the social worker to the door. Sam was definitely sad to see her go as she was the only adult other than his mother who he had interacted with more than once and who was actually nice to him and his . Murphy slowly turned and looked at the boys. "Are you two hungry? or do you want to nap?" She said kindly._

_"We are kind of hungry...can we have something to eat?" Sam wasn't sure why he was speaking for his brother, but Stevie hadn't protested which probably meant that he was hungry as well. The woman nodded and smiled._

_"Alright well let's see what we have in the kitchen shall we?" She headed towards the kitchen and made them some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She spoke to them and asked them about their lives and what their favourite tv shows were. Stevie had piped up and told her that Sam loved the Little House on the Prairie because of the blonde girl with blue eyes. Sam groaned and the woman laughed. _

_For a few weeks the interactions between Mrs. Murphy and the Evan's boys were absolutely pleasant. She took them out for walks in the park and sometimes they worked on puzzles after she came home from work. Sometimes she would read them stories of knights and dragons until the boys drifted off to sleep. But one particular night things changed._

_Sam had been lying in bed next to his brother as usual even though they had their own individual beds because Stevie had started to have nightmares. He would wake up screaming most nights and would crawl into Sam's bed with his face wet with tears before he fell back asleep. So Sam mostly stayed in his brother's bed just in case he could wake him up before the nightmare got too bad for the younger boy. He had just woken up to calm Stevie when he heard their door slowly creak open. Afraid that he was going to get in trouble for being awake he quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He could heard silent footsteps nearing the bed and felt it dip down underneath the weight of someone heavy. Sam could feel someone gently rubbing his arm but he continued to feign sleep until the same hand began to rub his leg. His eyes flew open and he stared at a very intoxicated Mrs. Murphy._

_"W-what are you doing?" he whispered and moved his body away from her._

_"I..I'm trying to calm you that's all...it's okay for adults to calm children." She hiccuped and grinned._

_"I don't like it...leave me alone." The woman's grin fell and she quickly stood up._

_"Okay...it'll be our little secret right?" She said nervously and Sam's eyes narrowed as he stared at the woman. She quickly scurried to the door and walked out. Sam sat in the bed and huddled closer to his brother and refused to go back to sleep that night. Around six O'clock in the morning, he crawled out of bed and called the social worker to tell her what had happened. She was over there in half an hour and the boys were taken back down to the police station where Sam had to tell an officer Wallace about the events that had happened._

_"Sam...you were very brave for doing what you did." The officer leaned forward and patted the younger boys hand. "You protected your brother and you stood up for yourself and that must have been really scary for you." Sam shrugged and tried not to cry. He had been absolutely terrified that night and he was exhausted from the lack of sleep. This experience only cemented the fact that adults were not to be trusted as they would try to hurt you again in the end. Another officer brought Sam some hot chocolate which he sipped quietly. "I'll be right back." The older man walked out of the room and Sam turned his head to watch him speak to the social worker. He couldn't hear the conversation but he could tell that the officer wasn't pleased about something. The social worker put her hands up and nodded. She pointed to a folder in her hands and the officer pointed to the folder and then at his own chest. The woman looked over at Sam and nodded before walking away. The officer returned to the office and smiled at him._

_"Where's my brother?" Sam put the hot chocolate down and looked around. _

_"He's sleeping in a makeshift bed near one of my officers, he's okay I promise." Sam was still nervous but nodded. The officer smiled at him and picked up a picture from his desk. He turned it around and Sam stared at the picture of the smiling woman and the officer who had his arm around her, "Sam...I want to discuss something with you..."_

Sam opened his eyes and looked back over at the house. He quickly put his notebook down and got out of the car and walked across the street. He put his hand up to knock and froze before he forced himself to take a few breaths and rapped his knuckles against the wood. After a few moments the door opened and Diane Wallace stood staring at her eldest foster child. She knew he was coming because he had called her earlier, but it was still surprising for her to see the man she had helped raise look so grown up.

"Sam.." She finally said.

"Hey...Diane. Thanks for letting me come over." He said awkwardly.

"You're always welcome here Sam, you know that." She took a step back and Sam walked into the familiar surroundings. Almost everything had stayed the same since he had been there. He walked over to the couch and sat down. "Let me just get your dad." She walked out of the room and Sam tensed up at the fact that he was about to see Joe. He wasn't exactly sure how things were going to unfold and he was nervous. Diane came back into the living room and sat down across from Sam on the other couch. "So how are you?"

"I'm okay. My leg's doing a lot better but sometimes I have a slight limp. Plus, I can always tell when it's going to rain, so that's useful." Diane laughed and smiled.

"Good, I'll call you if I ever need to know if I should bother watering my plants or not." Sam grinned at the older woman, but it immediately fell when he heard the heavy footsteps coming out of the bedroom. Sam turned his head and stared at Joe and in turn, Joe stared back at Sam in confusion. He walked over to his wife and sat down.

"When you said our son was here I thought you meant Stevie" He said quietly to his wife. He turned to Sam, "is Stevie okay?"

"Stevie's fine," his wife reassured him.

"Is someone dying?" Joe panicked and looked over at his wife.

"No no one is dying now be quiet." She gave him a threatening glance.

"Oh my God am I dying?" Joe turned to Sam once again.

"Fool you are not dying, Sam's just hear to talk to us."

"Wait did something happen to Bertha?" Joe's eyes widened as he looked at his wife in fear.

"Nothing has happened to that god damned toy Joe, and if you mention her again I'm going to hide her for another week."

"Technically that's theft and I'm a man of the law Diane and I know people who would arrest you just like that." The older man snapped his fingers and Diane rolled her eyes.

"Well I know Jesus and you are about to meet Him really soon if you don't shut the heck up!" She raised her voice and Joe shrunk back against the couch before he turned to look at Sam again.

"Uh...I'm just here to talk to you guys." Sam finally managed to say once they had quieted down.

"Didn't I tell you that?" Diane scolded her husband who folded his arms over his chest.

"About what? Do you need money?" Joe looked puzzled.

Sam chuckled and shook his head. "No, I don't need money." He took a deep breath and continued. "I need my family." Joe and Diane stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "I've been doing a lot of therapy lately and I've realised how much I really miss you guys and wish I had some kind of...I don't know, relationship with you I guess...I realise I'm old now and-"

"Sam don't be silly, you're not old...and sorry that I stared at you like that but it's just that.." Diane paused and looked over at her husband, "...we love you and we've always been here if you needed us. I guess we're just surprised that this is happening right now."

"Are you dying?" Joe squinted his eyes at his son and Sam shook his head and laughed.

"No, well I don't think I am."

"Okay, well I haven't seen you around here for almost a decade so we're going to have to make up some time. So that means you gotta come over here every Friday for dinner with me and your mom and update us on what you been up to for all that time." Joe pointed his finger at Sam, "We're here for you whenever you need us Sam, but you gotta make the effort to actually make us a part of your life, because let's face it, your mom isn't getting any younger." Diane's jaw dropped and she smacked her husband hard on the arm. "Ow woman!" he rubbed his arm, "and with all her damn threats I could be dead by next week, so we need to start soon."

Sam laughed and wiped his teary eyes. What was happening to him? He was becoming an absolute emotional wreck by this point. "Okay...I can do that." He sighed and stared at the Wallaces. "I just want to say thank you guys for everything that you have done for me and Stevie and I'm sorry that I waited a fucking long ass time to be sitting here and actually talking to you guys again."

Joe nodded, "You didn't apologize for being a complete stubborn asshole, but I guess baby steps." The older man grinned and Sam laughed.

"Speaking of baby steps when are we getting some grand children?" Diane winked at him. Sam groaned and smiled. He knew that this would be an emotionally exhausting and tiring experience. But right now it was what he really wanted and needed to do.

* * *

Delores slowly walked up to the door and sighed before pressing the doorbell. She adjusted her coat around her body as she waited for the door to open. She jumped as Stevie flung the door open and stared down at her. He was only wearing flannel pyjama bottoms and no top so she was able to see his firm chest and six pack. Her jaw fell as she took in the sight in front of her. The sound of Stevie clearing her throat brought her back to reality and her eyes snapped up to the smug expression on his face.

"Can I help you?" He said in a deep seductive voice. Dee pushed past him and entered the house. He closed the door and turned around to look at her.

"I want to know what happened that night." She put her hands on her hips and fought the urge to let her eyes travel down his body. He leaned his back against the door and stuck his hands into his pockets.

"Oh...you mean the night I fucked you hard? " He said casually as he licked his lips. "When I ripped your clothes off and bent you over that chair arm and ate you out until you couldn't stand anymore? is that the night you're talking about?" Dee's eyes grew wide and she could feel herself getting wet at just the mention of his plump lips against her most private parts. She cleared her throat and tried to speak but a squeak only managed to come out. Stevie grinned and walked towards her. "You felt so good and hot against my chest, it's all I can think about." He reached up and gently stroked her cheek with his one hand and let the other roam down her body.

"You..we...fuck." She managed to choke out and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity.

"Oh yea..we fucked really good." His hand reached between her legs and rubbed her heat through her jeans. Dee's breath caught in her throat and she moved her hips to grind into his hand. Stevie dipped his head and nibbled on her neck as she continued to move her body faster. He kissed his way up her neck and made his way to her lips. He gently kissed her and she moaned into his mouth. He pulled away from her and winked before he headed to his bedroom and disappeared behind the door. Dee stood there in shock wondering if she should leave or follow him. _Hell ye I'm going to follow him._

She quickly threw off her coat on to the couch and pushed his bedroom door open to find him sitting on the edge of the bed naked and slowly stroking himself. He licked his lips and beckoned for her to come closer. She walked forward and stood between his legs and he placed his hands on her hips. He put his mouth over her left breast and sucked on her nipple through the material. She could feel the peak hardening as he flicked his tongue over the sensitive spot. He pulled her shirt off over her head and pulled her bra cup to the side and circled his tongue around the nub and rubbed his soft lips over it. Dee tangled her hand in his hair as he switched over to her other breast. While his mouth paid attention to her upper body, his hands roamed down and skillfully unzipped her jeans and let them drop to her ankles. "Step out of them." Dee did as she was told and Stevie scooted back on to the bed. "Come." She quickly complied and climbed up his body, "Nope, keep going." She blushed and moved up his body until her heat was right above his mouth. Stevie reached up and massaged her ass and brought her body down on to his mouth where he flicked and sucked on her bliss button through the thin material of her thong. Dee held on to the head board and bit down on her lip so that she wouldn't moan too loudly. Stevie reached between her legs, moved the material aside, and slipped a long finger into her body while he continued to suck on her clit. Dee let out a loud moan as she pushed her body deeper on to his finger. "Fuck my finger baby, I know it can go deeper than that." He whispered against her body. Dee moved faster as his tongue quickened in pace, sucking and circling her nerves. She felt the orgasm coming faster as he bent his finger against her spot. Her body shook above his face and she struggled to hold on to the head board as he lapped up every bit of her juices. When she was finally able to move, she slowly slid down his body and he pressed his lips hard against hers.

"Stevie...that was..amazing." She said in between kisses.

"Girl are you dead? should we call CSI, the one with lawrence fishbourne not the ted danson one cause he creeps me out." Dee opened her eyes and stared into Arties face. She let out a loud scream. "Damn okay...is criminal minds more your thing then?"

She frantically looked around and noticed people were staring at her in the cafe that she had been quietly reading a book. She rubbed her face and groaned. "You were sleeping and snoring over here like you were the damn big friendly giant." Santana who was right behind Artie laughed and sat down. "You okay?" Dee rubbed her eyes and slowly nodded. She had been having that dream for almost two weeks since that night and she was having trouble sleeping.

"You look like one of them final destination kids, and they didn't look good Dee." She swatted Artie on the arm and he sat down beside Santana.

"Fool, why are you here anyways?..." She looked at her two friends, "Did you guys come here together?"

"What? no we met in the parking lot."

"...bumped into her by the door..."

Dee looked at her friends who looked awfully guilty. "Okay let's try that again...did you guys come here together?" Santana covered her face and Artie beamed.

"Yes we did!" He looked over at the embarrassed woman and winked at Dee. She squinted her eyes at the other woman and Dee realised that Santana only covered her face like that when Dee found out that she had sex with some random person at a bar or club.

"Lord have mercy please do not tell me ya'll had nookie." Sanatana groaned and knocked her head on the table and Artie nodded vigoruously.

"Hells yes we did, in my bedroom, on the floor, on the couch, in the shower..."

"If you don't shut the hell up I will cut off your dick and sell it to a porn shop, do you understand me point dexter?" Santana glared at the shorter man and he quickly nodded. But when she looked over at Dee, Artie beamed again and mouthed "in the car" to Dee. Dee had to cover her mouth to stop the laughter that was bubbling up. "Okay yea, we had sex like a few times while we were piss drunk that night, no big deal."

"Oh trust me IT was a BIG deal, if you know what I'm sayin." Artie smiled proudly and mouthed "my dick", which unfortunately for him Santana saw and smacked him upside the head. "Damn girl, you trying to smack away my knowledge? I need that to get a good job so that I can provide for you and our children." Sanatana rolled her eyes and looked at Dee.

"Never ever let me get that drunk EVER AGAIN" Dee laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh hell no, it seems like you had a swell time." Dee closed her book and grinned at her friends. Her phone began to buzz on the table but when she saw who was calling she quickly pressed ignore.

"um...what was that?" Santana looked at Dee inquisitively, "Wasn't that the guy who was at the club with us?" Dee sighed and nodded.

"Yea...it was. But we're not talking right now."

"Did that fool touch you inappropriately because I will bust a bottle cap in his ass." Artie jumped in and looked at Dee in concern.

"No...I don't know...I woke up naked the next day and he was gone...and I don't remember anything." She fidgeted with her phone and shrugged. "Like I'm okay if we had sex, but he's my sister's ex and I just feel guilty right now."

"You should call your sister and let her know then, but first find out what the hell happened because ol' blue eyes wasn't drunk so he should know." Santana patted her hand. "And if he did touch you, you know I can hire someone to bust his face." Dee laughed and shook her head.

"You two need to stop trying to bust things on his body," she giggled, "but I know...and it's cool, I'll deal with it." She smiled at her friends and was happy that she at least had people to back her up if she needed it. She joked around a bit longer with them, but then decided to head home. She'd deal with everything soon, she just had to figure out how she was going to approach Stevie about it all.

She walked into her apartment and threw her keys into the bowl next to the door. Just as she was taking off her shoes she heard a knock. She stood on her tip toes and peeped through the peephole and rested her head against the door before mustering up the courage to open it. She slowly looked up into the blue eyes of the tall blonde man who stood in front of her with his arms folded over his chest.

"Why are you avoiding me?" He said in an annoyed tone as he stared down at her.

"Hey to you too stranger, why don't you come on in." She tried to smile and stepped back. He rolled his eyes and bent down to pick his motorcycle helmet off the ground. He stepped inside and she closed the door behind him.

"Answer my question Delores." He sat down on the arm of her loveseat and stared at her. "I've been trying to call you and text you for two weeks and you've returned nothing. Now we're going to talk like adults and you're going to answer me."

"I've been busy jeese. My life doesn't evolve around you you know." Stevie stood up and put his helmet down on the couch.

"You're lying..." He walked slowly towards her. Dee backed up as he stalked towards her, "is this about the other night?" her back hit the door and he put his hands on either side of her head and leaned down towards her.

"Uh..." She cleared her throat and stared into the cool blue eyes. "Well...uh." Stevie grinned and moved his lips closer to hers.

"You want to know what happened?..." He said in a lower deep voice and she could feel his hot breath against her lips.

"Mhm..." She managed to sound out as she mentally willed him to kiss her.

"Nothing!" He said loudly and stepped back. "You think I'd actually touch you while you were pissed drunk?" she could detect the anger underneath the annoyance. "I would never do something like that to you and you know that." he walked over to his helmet and picked it up.

"Well I know! but I woke up butt ass nekkid! what was I supposed to think?" She walked towards him.

"I know! that's why I left you a letter which was beside your purse. You know the purse my brother had to drop off for you that morning because you left it at the club." Dee thought back and vaguely remembered the paper that was leaning on her purse. "Had you read it you would have known that you started singing Nelly's 'it's getting hot in here' and tore off your own damn clothes. You would have also known that I slept on the couch, woke up, left breakfast for you in the fridge, and went to work." Dee closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I would never disrespect you like that...and then you avoid me and not talk it out with me?"

"I'm sorry!" she yelled, "I didn't have a problem having sex with you, it's the fact that you're my sisters ex which freaked me out a bit." Stevie sighed and bit his lip. "I didn't know how to bring it up to you and you're right I should have dealt with it like an adult."

"Good, I accept your apology..." he looked down at his helmet and grinned. "And you owe me Dee time...so, you'll have to have dinner with me soon." He looked up,"And Dee...trust me, if we had sex, it wouldn't be something you could forget." He smiled at Dee's shocked expression and turned to the door and opened it. "But don't worry...you'll find that out soon enough." He winked and walked out into the hallway, "Oh and don't ignore my calls anymore...it's really rude." With that he closed the door. Dee stood staring after him and willed herself to breathe.

"Well...I'm going to have to take a cold shower and get a change of dry undies." She muttered to herself. The sound of her phone buzzing snapped her out of her daze and she ran to her purse to get it. When she saw the number she bit her lip and answered, "Hey big butt...I need to talk to you about something..."

A/N: Hey dearies! read review recycle!...something like that, I suck at smut so hopefully you enjoyed the gift, or just pm me and say never write that horribley again and I'll ty to comply


	4. Chapter 4: Month 4 of Mercy being gone

"So she says she has something she needs to talk to me about and I'm thinking that she got like a va jay jay piercing because she kept talking about one two years ago. But then she goes on to say how she has feelings for an Evans brother and she thinks he might feel the same way for her and I'm like oh my God it's Sam, it can't be Sam how can she do this to me, it makes no sense. So I'm about to tell her to do what makes her happy because I love my little sister and even if I messed up then that's not her fault, why should she suffer, you get what I'm saying? So anyways I'm having a coronary, are they called coronaries? Never mind, I'm having a heart attack and then she says "I never thought I'd have feelings for Stevie and I'm sorry." And I'm literally sitting there and silently dancing and cabbage patching in my head that it's not Sam. So what I'm saying is I love him a lot and I think I should tell him. What do you think?" Mercedes took in a deep long breath and stared at the pediatrician in front of her. Dr. Michael Chang's mouth had fallen open and his hand was frozen in the air as he was about to give Andrea a lollipop.

Andrea mirrored his face and stared at her nurse, her big brown eyes widened, "Emmy...you didn't breathe for a really long time. AND you didn't die." She said happily and clapped her little hands. Emmy had been the nickname she had given Mercedes not long after she had started taking care of her. The five year olds curly hair bounced as she clapped.

"You're right Andrea. I've been in the medical profession for some time now and I have never seen anything like that before." Dr. Chang turned his head towards the little girl and whispered, "Maybe she's a zombie!" Andrea squealed and covered her eyes. "Alright now, don't get too excited now you pretty little lady." He handed her the lollipop, picked her up, and put her to stand on the ground. She slowly walked to Mercedes and handed her the sucker for her to open it. Mercedes pulled her into her lap and pulled the plastic off of the treat.

"I did breathe you silly goose...well I think I did. But Mike, what do you think?" Mike sat down on his stool and folded his arms across his chest and leaned forward to get a good look at her.

"I think you should go out with me like I asked you to almost five months ago. Then I think you should forget all about these blonde big lipped men and come over to the sexy mystery oriental side of life and mother my unborn children...and guess what? I know a really good pediatrician who can take care of them." He grinned at her and looked over Andrea's charts. "Oh and I'm going to have to ask you to pay for this little session here. Advice don't come cheap now and days Ms. Jones."

"You have heard everything I have said in the last four months about how I messed up, and dated one of the brothers out of spite. And about how I pretty much destroy lives. You heard all of that! And you still want to go on a date with me?" She laughed. "If becoming a l-e-s-b-i-a-n was a choice, I would have already hopped that gravy train."

"What's a l-e-s-t-e-m?" Andrea asked as she sucked on the red lollipop.

"Never mind, this is grown folks business now just suck on your lollipop." Andrea pouted so Mercedes lightly tickled the little girl's side and made her laugh. "But you don't understand how quickly my heart stopped when she just started talking about that. I love Stevie like an older brother...kinda thing." She sighed, "It is kind of weird to think about him and my little sister, but it really makes sense. Whenever they were around each other, it just clicked, _they_ just clicked."

Mike nodded and pointed at her. "You know what I think you should do?" Mercedes shook her head no and stared intently at the older man. "Marry me and forget everything else, plus his name's Sam Evans...that's one evil name. You'd be Mercedes Evans." He made a disgusted face, "But Mercedes Chang sounds expensive and happy."

"Oh God, why do I talk to you?" she laughed and shook her head.

"Because you want my blasian babies some day because they will be adorable with their doe eyes and chubby cheeks." Mike winked at her and Andrea stared at him in confusion.

"Why does he want blazing babies...wouldn't they be really hot?" Mercedes and Mike laughed loudly at the same time. Andrea looked at the adults like they were insane.

"I'll tell you when you're older sweety." She gave the little girl a peck on her forehead. "Well you're all booked up today Dr. Chang, so we'll talk again when Andrea has her next heart checkup." Mike nodded and she helped Andrea off of her lap so that she could stand up. Mike stood up as well.

"Sounds good Mercedes," he smiled, "Oh one last thing..." He picked up his prescription pad and scribbled something quickly on it. "Take these twice a day and you'll feel perfect and satisfied." He handed the paper to Mercedes and she stared down and what looked like pills with numbers in them. When she clued in that it was Mike's number she laughed hysterically.

"If I didn't have all that drama back home and had met you...MAYBE I would have given you a chance." She smiled and held Andrea's hand as they walked to the door. "But thanks for listening, even though you gave me absolutely no advice."

Mike pinched Andrea's cheeks and smiled. "You love Sam, you've known it for months and I knew it even before you told me just now." He shook his head and grinned. "I can only imagine his suffering of knowing the entire time that you loved him, and then having to watch you not know it. Go home after you help our little patient here and as they say in the movies 'go get yo man'." Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"I won't be getting anything. For all I know Sam has a girlfriend and is finally happy with someone." She shrugged, "and as much as he can be a total A-hole, he really deserves it. But I'll be okay though. The time away from my mom and everything has really helped me realise that I can do it by myself." Mike nodded and then tapped the paper in her hands.

"Well, if doing everything by yourself starts to get tiring. You can always use my prescription." He smiled at her and she gave him a quick hug. "Bye Andrea!" He waved to the little girl.

"Bye, thanks for the lollipop." Mercedes looked down at Andrea and gasped at the smears of red all over the little girls face. Mike laughed.

"You are very welcome."

* * *

Mercedes put Andrea down for her afternoon nap and walked to the kitchen to make some tea. She sat down at the kitchen table and waited for the water to boil. The silence in the house left her to her thoughts and she replayed the phone conversation between herself and Dee from earlier that week.

"_Damn it Dee! Did you pierce your hello kitty? Because you know mom is going to want to beat the demon and devil out of you." She chuckled as she walked to the grocery store. It had been over two weeks since she had last spoken to her younger sister and she missed her a lot._

"_What? girl that was pierced a long time ago." Dee laughed and then paused. "But...no it's worse than that...I have feelings for an Evan's brother." Mercedes literally stopped walking as she listened to her sister. Her heart began to pound so loudly that she could hear the quick heart beat in her head. "You there? Please don't be mad." She could hear the panic in her sisters' voice, but couldn't bring herself to speak. "I think...he likes me too. But I don't know Merce, maybe I'm wrong." Mercedes closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breathing._

"_Are you okay ma'am?" A man who looked like he was in his seventies stopped to make sure she was alright. After breathing for a bit and calming her nerves, she was finally able to speak._

"_Yes. I'm okay, thank you." The older gentleman stared at her for a little bit longer until she smiled and he walked away. __**Does Sam like Dee? Did he show her his Maury impersonations too?**__ She slowly sat down on a bench in front of the store and pinched the bridge of her nose._

"_Mercedes!" Her sister yelled into her ear._

"_Dee...I just want you to be happy." She said slowly as if pained by the words. Her own voice sounded foreign to her._

"_Are you sure? Because I know that you and Stevie dated and that things didn't really work out the way that you thought it would, but if you still like him then I'll back off and he will never see my gorgeous ass again." __**Stevie? OH THANK YA JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH!**__ Mercedes fought the urge to moonwalk in the street. _

"_Stevie? Oh wow." She took a deep breath. "Did ya'll study more than animals after I left?" _

"_No Merce I swear, we never did anything." _

"_Girl, it's perfectly fine...I realised that Stevie and I were never really meant to be. Don't get me wrong, he's amazingly sweet and loving, but we never clicked like you guys did." This time she wasn't lying to herself. As much as she loved who Stevie was, she didn't actually love him._

"_Sometimes I want to beat him with sock and then other times I want to shove that sock into his mouth, tie him up with some scarves, and rock his world." Dee laughed and Mercedes almost choked on the piece of gum in her mouth, "Cos I will be a freak until the day until the dawn." Dee sang._

"_Damn Dee, don't hurt him now. Remember he hasn't had sex in more than three years, he's like a born again virgin." There was a long pause on the other line and Mercedes had to strain hard to still hear Dee breathing. "What are you doing?"_

"_Shhh, I'm praying that his dick don't fall off from the lack of usage." Mercedes let out a loud laugh that drew some curious stares in her direction. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with her sister about her ex boyfriend. But in reality, even though they had technically dated, her heart had never been in it. "It's not funny Merce...I already have a manless penis, I don't need a penisless man now. That don't make no sense." Mercedes shook her head and covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing so hard._

"_Dee, as creepy as it sounds, trust me he can still get it up." _

"_I bet he can, I just don't want it to get up, snap off, and walk the hell out of the room." Mercedes folded over in laughter and tears fell down her cheeks. She was pretty sure that people were thinking she was crazy, but at this point she didn't care._

"_Just imagine it popping out of his pant's looking at me and being like oh hell naw, we are not ready for this, retreat! Retreat!" _

"_Dee stop it! I'm out in public and you're going to get me committed for looking like a damn crazy person."_

"_It's true Merce, but I'll stop. It's okay, we'll work around his peacock, maybe we can fortify it with toothpicks or something when the time comes." Mercedes shook her head and laughed. "So does this mean that you love Sam...or are you over him too?"_

"_Why? Are you planning a big lipped three way sandwich?" Mercedes smiled into the phone._

"_No, but you never told me how you felt about him." The conversation had taken a serious turn and it made her slightly uncomfortable. She knew the truth, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to say it out loud just as yet._

"_I...fuck it, yea I love him. Dee, I miss him a lot." Surprisingly saying it made her feel a lot better. It felt right to say._

"_When are you coming back?"_

_Mercedes sighed and looked at the people milling around. "I don't know...Andreas' parents asked me to stay longer and I need to make sure her condition doesn't get worse or anything. So it could be another month or two. Who knows?"_

"_Well I miss you, we all do actually..." Mercedes bit her trembling lip. She missed home too, but she wasn't entirely sure that she was ready to go back and face everything and everyone. Seeing Sam scared her the most. Her biggest fear was that everything would be incredibly awkward between them and she wasn't exactly sure if she could handle that right now._

"_I miss you too, I have to go though big butt. Talk to you soon. Love you." She said quickly into the phone._

"_Love you too Merce." Mercedes listened to the click on the other line and leaned back on the bench._

The whistling of the kettle drew her out of her thoughts as she quickly got up to take it off of the stove. She poured herself a cup of green tea and took a tentative sip from the steaming mug. The town where she was staying was nice and quiet and she was making friends. She closed her eyes and drank some more of her tea as she contemplated making this place her new home.

* * *

Sam walked into his office and rubbed his eyes when he saw Rachel wearing a simple blouse and pencil skirt. He squinted at her for a moment and then slowly walked to his own door. Not believing what he had just seen, he stepped back into the main office and stared at her again.

"Rachel...?" She looked up at him in surprise and smiled.

"Yes Mr. Evans?"

"Did someone die?"

"No."

"Did you hit your head?"

"No Mr. Evans."

"Did your ugly clothes get stolen by a desperate homeless person who tried them on, thought they were too ugly to wear, and then burned them up in a barrel fire?" Rachel glared at him and then rolled her eyes.

"Well that was just uncalled for. I just felt like dressing up today...that's all." She smoothed down her skirt and handed him some papers from her desk. "Your brother's coming by today for lunch...it's been almost a year since he did that."

"AH HA, I see you trollop. You are not clawing your way into this family, no siree. Hands off my brother." He smirked at her as she scowled at him and he proceeded to walk into his office. Sam closed the door behind him. Rachel was insane, but she was right. Stevie hadn't come to have lunch with him for a very long time. He wondered if something was wrong and tried to remember if his parents had said anything Friday night. _We talked about tuna casserole, bertha, work, bertha, and how Diane was going to kill bertha. But nope, no Stevie._ He shrugged and went about his day, if it had been anything serious Stevie would have called him and told him before he went to work. With that comfort in mind, he turned on his computer and did some research for an upcoming case.

Around noon, Sam could hear laughter and some loud giggling outside his door. He rolled his eyes and absentmindedly rubbed his leg. Since the talking didn't seem to be dying down, he got up and opened his door and stared at his younger brother. Rachel awkwardly cleared her throat and started typing on her computer. "Listen, I am not having any ugly sweater having nieces and nephews, you got that?" he stared pointedly at Stevie and then at Rachel who was turning red in embarrassment. Sam smirked and then walked back into his office, leaving the door open behind him.

"Uh, bye Rachel." Stevie followed after his brother and closed the door. "And what the hell was that? You are one comment away from making that girl snap. She's going to come in here and stab you in the eye with a paper clip if you keep that shit up." Sam laughed and extended his hand out to his brother.

"Feed me oh young one." Stevie laughed, pulled a sandwich out of his bag, and handed it to his brother. "Thanks, so what's up lil bro?" Stevie sat in front of his brother and played with a cuticle on his left hand.

"I..I really like someone." He stared into his brother's green eyes. "And I'm pretty sure she feels the same way, but I don't know what to do."

Sam threw his sandwich down on the table, "Fuck, please don't tell me it's Rachel. Please Stevie...you haven't seen her face when she tries to sing. You haven't seen all of that yet." Stevie laughed and shook his head. "Thank God." Sam picked up his sandwich and bit into it, now that his appetite had returned.

"It's Dee." Stevie watched as Sam chewed more slowly.

"Wow...can't say I'm really surprised though. What about Mercy?" Stevie shrugged.

"I really care about her as a friend. But thinking about everything we went through and how fast things went..." he shook his head in disbelief, "Made me realise that none of that was really real. She was different and I liked that. But Dee..." Stevie laughed and dragged his hand through his hair, "Dee's just...fucking insane, but I really like that about her. It really turns me on." He grinned and Sam put his sandwich down again.

"Can you warn me next time before we just start talking about your libido?" Sam laughed and stared at his younger brother. "So are you two going to date?..."

"I don't know, we haven't actually spoken about it to each other, but you can cut the sexual tension with a damn chainsaw. Like when I'm with her I feel so bold, I say things that I normally wouldn't, I act different. But not in a bad way, it's like I just have no fucks to give." Sam nodded knowingly.

"Mhm...the ain't shit syndrome. It's dangerous, but so much fun. I've had it forever."

Stevie stared at him in confusion, "The what?"

"Okay, let me try to explain. It's when you just do whatever the hell you want. Like maybe normally you're too shy to approach a girl, but when you've got the ain't shit syndrome, you pick that girl up and fling her over your shoulder." Stevie nodded and rubbed his chin.

"That's so damn true. Like I wanted to kiss her the other day and normally I would have, but I teased her instead..." His eyes widened and he whispered, "ain't shit."

"Ain't shit!" Sam smacked his hand on his desk and laughed.

"I'm going to be seeing her sometime soon, I told her she has to have dinner with me." Stevie gave his brother a worried look. "But now I'm freaking out. I haven't had sex in almost four years. I'm not saying we will, but let's say things get heated up..." He trailed off and stared at Sam.

"There are two holes, if you find the right door, she'll want some more. If you poke her in the rear, you better stay clear." Sam smirked at Stevie and his brother rolled his eyes.

"Great advice oh dumb one, you're almost thirty two and that's what you had to say?"

"It's helped me get laid for years!" He chuckled.

"Those poor women."

"No no, I found the right door." He smiled and then his face grew serious, "Completely irrelevant, but since you hang out with Dee a lot...does she ever say anything about Mercy?"

"Not really, I think she believes it's a touchy subject for me. So she just doesn't really bring anything up." He shrugged, "Why?"

"Nothing, I'm just curious." Sam cleared his throat, "I think it's time for me to get back to work and for you to go back to animal farm." Stevie stood up and laughed.

"That was actually pretty good old man." Sam stood up from behind his desk, "Sit, I'll let myself out. Talk to you later." Stevie gathered his things and waved to his brother.

"Choose the right door!" Sam yelled and Stevie stuck up his middle finger before he closed the door firmly behind him. Sam leaned back in his chair and wished that he knew what Mercedes was up to. He wondered if she had met someone else while she was away and if she was happier now. It was weird, but since she went to her new job he just felt like everything moved more slowly. The house hadn't been the same since she left and as much as he tried to avoid it by going out, it always bothered him when he came home. Veronica tried to cheer him up and take him out a lot, but most of the time he honestly just wanted to be left alone. Sighing he rubbed his face and his stubble. _Shit, I need to shave._ He groaned at how sensitive his face was going to feel. The cell on his desk vibrated its way towards the edge, but Sam caught it before it fell. He looked at the number and smiled before answering, "Well speak of the devil, I just thought about you..."

* * *

Veronica leaned back on the couch and sipped her wine. She picked up a manila envelope and pulled the contents out of it and looked it over before handing the documents over to Sam. "So how fucked do you think he is this time?"

Sam took the papers from her and grabbed his new glasses from his brief case. He looked over the wording and laughed. "Why the hell did you take this case?" He shook his head and took a gulp from his own glass.

"Because he was really good at sex." She laughed and threw back the rest of the wine. "I mean like...really really good." She grabbed the bottle and poured herself another glass. "I really probably should stop drinking or else I'll have to cab it home." A burp escaped her mouth and she giggled.

"Yea, because you're not drunk as it is already." Sam rolled his eyes and took the bottle from her and poured the rest of it into his glass. "How did you end up with this guy anyways? He seems like a total nut job if you ask me."

"A bar."

"That's all you're going to tell me huh?" Veronica drank more of her wine and nodded. "Fine."

"How are the Friday dinners coming along?" She leaned her head against a cushion and willed herself not to fall asleep.

"They're hilarious actually, it got a little awkward for a second last Friday when I called Diane mom. But it was only awkward because she started to cry so hard over it." He smiled at the memory and shook his head. "Oh and Stevie might come by later tonight to hang out. He said it all depended on if Dee wanted to have their dinner tonight." Sam rolled his eyes and drank some more. "I told him he better call beforehand because he left his key here last week and if I'm sleeping, I'm not opening anything for him."

"Wait...Dee and Stevie?" Veronica sat up and stared at Sam. He simply nodded and smiled. "No way, that's awesome. I kind of knew those two had the hots for each other." She stretched out her body and let out a loud yawn. "Alright call me a taxi."

"You're not going anywhere. You sleep here all the damn time when we get drunk, so what's the big deal now?" He pulled her up from the couch. "My Thor pj's are in my bedroom drawer, so go take them. And I'm going to go take a shower." Veronica nodded and Sam started to unbutton his shirt as he walked away. She stared after him and secretly checked out his butt as he walked up the stairs.

"As flat as a door, it's like all the fat for his ass went to his lips." She chuckled to herself and grabbed the pyjamas from the chest of drawers. As much as she tried to tell him to go back upstairs to his original room, he had refused to. She threw on the pj's and let her hair down so that it cascaded down her back. Running across the hall and into the living room she grabbed her glass of wine and took a sip. She saw Sam's phone vibrate across the table and went back to nursing her alcohol. When she heard the doorbell ring she rolled her eyes and heaved herself up to let Stevie in. "I guess Dee stood him up." When it rang again, she walked faster and tried not to spill her wine, but it splashed on her pj top anyways. She cursed under her breath and quickly unlocked the door. "It's open!" Running to Sam's room to get another shirt, she couldn't find another pyjama one. She tugged the soiled shirt over her head and walked back towards Sam's door. She was pretty sure Stevie had seen her in a bra before on one of her really bad drunken nights. In fact he could have seen even more. So when she entered the foyer and heard the loud gasp she jumped. She stared open mouthed at the shorter woman standing at the door. Mercedes eyes grew wide as she stared back at the shirtless woman.


	5. Chapter 5: Mercy's back

Mercedes quickly spun the ring on her finger as she stared at the topless brunette woman standing right in front of her. She had always wondered if Sam and Veronica were an item, but never in her wildest dreams did she think that she would find out that they were dating this way. Once she had made her decision to come back to town to see the man she was in love with, there was no stopping her. In her heart, she knew that there was always a possibility that he could have moved on with his life, but she told herself to stop running and go home to find out the truth. Fortunately, Andrea's health had improved drastically and Mike had promised Mercedes that he would take care of her. So she did what she felt was in her heart, packed up her things, and headed home. Now here she was with the ugly truth staring her right in the face and she didn't know what to do. She didn't even know how to breathe at the moment.

Veronica stared hard at Mercedes as if she was trying to determine if she was real or not. She may have been tipsy, scratch that, drunk as a skunk, but she quickly realised that the woman standing in front of her was Sam's ex nurse. "Oh wow...hi...you." She said as her words all slurred together.

Mercedes stopped spinning her ring, pulled her shoulders back, and stood straight. "Hi." Veronica nodded and looked everywhere that wasn't the shorter woman in front of her.

"I think...I think...I know you, but um...you're...Porsche?..."She scratched her head and squinted her eyes, "Benz...? NO I got it! You're Kia right?" The leggy brunette woman smiled with glee as she pointed to the very irritated woman in front of her. Mercedes' eyebrow rose so high that it almost touched her hairline. She opened her mouth to correct the obviously hammered woman, but Veronica cut her off before she could say anything. "Shit, my boobies are just popping out all over the place aren't they?" She looked down into her cleavage and shook her boobs from side to side as if mesmerized that they were able to do that. "Lemme go get a top." With one last wiggle of her boobs, she ran into Sam's room to search for any old shirt.

"Still don't like that bitch," Mercedes muttered under her breath as she watched Veronica disappear into the all familiar room. For a moment she wondered if Sam was in there with her. Standing alone in the foyer, Mercedes slowly walked towards the living room and saw a wine glass and two empty bottles of wine. "Shit...were they on a date?" she muttered again and contemplated leaving. Although her heart was breaking into a thousand tiny shards inside her chest, she couldn't bear the thought of intruding on a private moment between the two. If Veronica was the woman for Sam, then she would have to respect that and give him the space he needed and deserved. It was naive of her to even think that he would wait five months for a woman who essentially told him to grow the hell up. Her eyes wandered over to the door and her body began to follow. But before she could reach the doorknob she rolled her eyes. _What the hell are you running from? Just because he's with someone else doesn't mean you can't say hi. It doesn't mean he doesn't want to be friends with you._ She closed her eyes as she argued with herself and heard Veronica walk back into the foyer behind her. Mercedes slowly turned around and plastered a smile on to her face. _If she's important to Sam, then I can make an effort to be nice to her. Aside from forgetting my name...twice, she hasn't done anything to me and has been here for Sam after everything that happened._ Despite her best efforts to look cheery, the smile slightly faltered when she saw that the shirt Veronica was wearing was the one she had bought Sam as a surprise while she had worked for him. He had been having a bad day because of his crutches and wasn't getting the hang of it as yet and continued to mope, so she went to a thrift store and bought him a Captain America shield shirt. Looking away from the shirt she stared at Veronica's face and willed herself not to make any snide remarks about the pimple above her eyebrow. _Mhm, her face is so ugly it's trying to escape in all types of ways...okay, that was stupid. But it made me feel better. _Veronica bit her lip and then tugged on the bottom of the shirt.

"So Sam's taking a shower...he'll be down soon." She gave Mercedes a nervous smile and then burped loudly. "Shit, sorry. Wine makes me gassy...just be happy it came out of the attic and not the basement, if you catch my drift." _Oh hell no, Sam can't really be with this little gassy nasty bobble headed witch._

Mercedes nodded and gave her a tight lipped smile, "That's okay." The Sam taking a shower comment didn't slip past her that easily. She took a deep breath as she tried not to picture his wangdoodle from the night she caught him strangling the worm. Remembering that night, she looked at Veronica's thin frame. _Hell, this girl's like a damn ruler. Flat on both sides. I thought Sam was more into the curvy type?_

Veronica hiccupped and scratched a spot behind her neck. "Oh shit, wow I'm so rude. Do you want some wine?" Mercedes nodded vigorously and followed the taller woman into the kitchen. If she was going to survive seeing Sam, she was going to need some booze to get her going. Veronica looked around the kitchen and then walked into the living room and grabbed a bottle. She turned it upside down. A single drop fell to the ground. "Ah...let's pretend I never asked." She laughed heartily and Mercedes trained her eyes not to slowly slide to the side. _Look at this heifer laughing like a damn dolphin. _She was about to say something, when she heard the heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and heading towards the kitchen.

His deep voice boomed as he walked into the kitchen. "We should go get breakfast from that small bakery that we went to last week. You know the one with the giant chicken out front?" Sam laughed as he dried his wet hair with an oversized towel. Mercedes couldn't catch her breath for a moment as she watched his bare chest muscles contract from the quick movement of his arms as he rubbed his head. Her eyes wandered down to the red towel dangerously wrapped around his waist and she licked her lips as she saw a few drops of water drip from his hair to his chest, down his torso, and then disappeared into the cloth hanging from his hips. "What do you think?" He pulled the towel off from his head and literally stepped backwards in shock as he laid his eyes on Mercedes. She studied his face and decided that she liked the new scruffy beard he was growing. It made his generally round face more angular and more mature looking. He slowly blinked as his eyes seemed to drink her in like good wine. His plump lips parted as he whispered, "Mercy...?"

Her heart started to beat faster at the familiar nickname. She had to fight the urge to hug him or punch him, anything that meant that she could touch him. He cleared his throat and looked over at Veronica in confusion. "I offered Kia some wine, but we're all out now." She sighed and put the empty wine bottle down. Sam stared at her for a few moments before he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Mercedes...her name is Mercedes. Why don't you go to bed?" Mercedes could hear the twinge of annoyance in his tone and genuinely hoped that she hadn't caused any problems between the couple. Veronica yawned and then walked towards Sam. Mercedes quickly turned her head so that she wouldn't see the kiss she thought was happening and completely missed the taller woman fondly patting Sam on top of his head.

"Yea, I'm beat." She looked over at Mercedes and grinned. "Sorry about that Mercedes. Night." Mercedes looked up and watched her saunter out of the kitchen. She looked over at Sam who was still intensely staring at her. It was a mix between fear and uncertainty. He clutched at the towel that was around his waist and she fought the urge to giggle at the slight bulge she could see from under the fabric. Since he didn't seem like he was going to be the one to lead the conversation, she forced herself to talk.

"Hi...I'm sorry for just barging in...I called but you didn't pick up so I just came to the door and Veronica opened it for me." He slowly nodded, but never took his eyes off of her. She shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze and she wondered what was going through his blonde head. Sighing, he sat down at the kitchen table and bit his lip. Taking his gesture as an invite, Mercedes pulled out the other chair and sat across from him. She started to twist her ring as she stared at the table and tried her best to sink down into the chair under the awkward silence between the two. Sam let out a faint chuckle.

"You still do that huh?" She looked up to see him staring at her hand. He looked up and his green eyes bore into hers.

"Twist your ring when you're agitated or nervous." He grinned and she shrugged, but smiled back. His voice made her body tremble and she stiffened at the idea that his voice could have the same effect on his girlfriend. "...when did you come back?"

"Tonight. About an hour ago." She watched as he folded his arms over his chest. "Nobody knows I'm here yet." He nodded and cocked his head to the side.

"Except for me." He gave her a small smile. Mercedes laughed.

"Yea, you and Veronica are the only ones. Not even my mom knows I'm back." Sam's body language changed and she could tell that bringing up her mother had made him uncomfortable.

"Mercy...I mean Mercedes." He leaned forward. "Can we talk tomorrow? I'm happy you're back, but I'm kind of still reeling from seeing you right now and I'm not sure what to say, and when I'm like that, I say the wrong things." Mercedes quickly stood up and Sam tried to do the same but was more cautious since he was only wearing a towel.

"That's fine. I really shouldn't have just popped in and bothered you guys." She tried to smile but the feeling of embarrassment made her want to cry. The only reason why she had wanted to come home early was so that she could have apologised to him and told him about she felt. Now he was essentially kicking her out of his house. She wasn't angry with him, but her heart hurt at the amount of disappointment she was feeling.

"You weren't bothering us. I'm probably going to sleep now anyways." She nodded and tried not to picture him spooning the taller brunette woman. He quickly walked towards her and pulled her into a tight hug. She could hear his heart beating quickly as she hugged him back, but just as quickly he let her go. "So tomorrow meet me at Coffee Time on King, at noon." Slightly shaken by the hug, she only managed to nod as she headed for the door. She turned around and looked up into his face.

"Alright...see you then." She walked out of the house before he could say anything else and quickly hustled to her car. Once she got inside she rested her head on the steering wheel and willed herself not to cry, but failed miserably. Everything that she had felt, from the moment that she had walked into that house began to come out in hot tears. She knew that this could happen, that he could have moved on, but she hadn't expected the intense awkwardness where he could hardly look her in the eye. Searching for a tissue in her purse she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She hoped that everything would be okay when she saw him the next day. The quiet and reserved man she had spoken to just now wasn't the Sam she remembered. Half of her had wanted him to sing baby got back or make any kind of snarky comment. She stared out the windshield as she wondered about what else had changed since she had been gone.

* * *

Dee sat down beside the taller blonde man on her couch. She grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the bowl that was on his lap and stuffed it into her mouth. They were watching Get Smart. From the corner of her eye, she could see him shaking his head in disbelief. "Who honestly believes that Anne Hathaway would be into a dude that looks like he's forty years old and stunned all the time?"

"Shouldn't you be cheering him on? You're an old man you're damned self." She said after drinking coke from the glass on the table, "If anything he should be you're inspiration because you're going to be his age really soon." Stevie turned to look at her and rolled his eyes. "Isn't your birthday coming up?"

"Nope, I'm Peter Pan. I don't have birthdays or ever age." He shoved some popcorn into his mouth, "The animals at the clinic are my lost boys," he looked over at her, "You want to be my Wendy?" Dee laughed and rolled her eyes at the attractive man beside her. She knew that she was definitely attracted to the blue eyed man and suspected that he felt the same, but they continued to beat around the bush and not address it.

"You want me to be like that bobble headed girl who let herself and her siblings get kidnapped by a ginger boy who could fly? Are you inadvertently calling me stupid?"

Stevie's eyes widened. "What? no!" he laughed and put the bowl of popcorn on the table. "I'm just saying that Wendy was Peter's love interest." He shook his head and took a swig from his beer, "Damn, you could make any children's story messed up couldn't you?" Dee nodded proudly.

"Hell yes I can. And why do you want me to be Wendy then? Am I _your _love interest?" She looked at the TV screen and admired the Rock's sexiness before pausing it and turning to look at Stevie. He cleared his throat and stared at his hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Dee had been somewhat joking around, but seeing him get all quiet and nervous gave the answer to her question.

"Do you really think I'm ancient? Or too old for you?" His blue eyes studied her face. "Because I'm turning thirty this year and I know you're only twenty four turning twenty five and ...that can be a big age gap to some people. You know what I'm saying?"

"Listen here old man. Why the hell would you be too old for me? I call you old man because I think you're mature and hot. I just make fun of you because it's so easy for me to do...and it's definitely fun." Stevie laughed and nodded his head. "So what I'm saying is, I think you're sexy as hell and I wouldn't be watching this shitty movie with you if I didn't think so." She looked at the screen again and shrugged, "Okay maybe I would be because the Rock is fine as hell."

Stevie rubbed his chin and grinned, "Aw you got a little crush on me youngin? That's cute." He picked up the bowl of popcorn from the table and resumed eating. Dee's jaw dropped as she stared at him in disbelief. She picked up the bowl of popcorn, placed it on the table, and straddled him. The sound of an audible gulp was heard in the room.

"Now listen here you denture wearing, cane using, arthritis having old man. I just told you I was interested in you and your ass better tell me how you feel about me." Stevie placed his hands on her hips and moved his body up against hers. She could feel his attraction through his pants.

"Aside from me thinking that I would love to jump you right here on this couch...I think you're fucking beautiful and I generally can't wait to see you when I'm not with you." He smiled up at her surprised expression, "Honestly don't be surprised that I find you hilarious and insane, because you are. And...I want to see more of that. I want to take you out on dates and show you the good time you honestly deserve. I want to show you how much I appreciate your visits to my job sometimes, well, when you're not trying to correct me on my diagnoses." Dee laughed and smiled down at the man underneath her. "So that's how I feel."

"I guess that was good enough." She said as she moved back to her original seat. Stevie shook his head and pulled her in towards him. He leaned his head down and brushed his lips against hers when suddenly they heard a knock on the door. "Ignore that, it's just the fridge."

Stevie leaned back and stared at her, "Since when do fridges knock?" Dee shrugged and tried to close the distance between them again.

"I was thawing out some chicken legs for dinner and sometimes they get rowdy." She smiled as she tried to lean in for the kiss, when the knock at the door came again. "Shit, I should just buy cooked chicken next time."

Stevie laughed and shook his head. "Go open the door mini you." Dee rolled her eyes and stood up. "It can be an emergency."

"There's an emergency in my pants." She muttered under her breath as she walked to the door. "Somebody better be dying or else they're about to die." She peeked through the peephole and flung the door open. "Merce?" she squealed as she pulled her sister into a tight hug.

"Hey big head." Mercedes replied as she hugged her sister back. "Sorry, I didn't call before I came over." She spotted Stevie staring at her awkwardly from the couch and pulled back from her sister. "Oh shit, I'm sorry guys. Am I interrupting something?" Dee turned around and looked at Stevie as if to ask him with her eyes. He cleared his throat and stood up.

"Nope, was just about to leave." Dee's expression dropped slightly and Mercedes could see the disappointment that appeared and just as quickly disappeared from her face.

"No, no. I can come back another time. I keep barging in on people tonight and you'd think I would have learned my lesson by now." Dee turned towards her sister and shook her head.

"No, stay. Stevie honestly was just about to leave." Stevie nodded and walked up to the sisters and gave Dee an awkward side hug.

"Well youngin', I guess I'll catch you around." He smirked.

"Hell, no you ain't catching me around. You have my number, use it. I'll expect your call later tonight." She smiled up at him and watched as his blue eyes twinkled with mischievousness. He nodded and then looked over at Mercedes.

"Nice to have you back." He gave her a hug and an awkward pat on the back before heading out. Mercedes turned to her sister and raised an eyebrow.

"You better have tons to talk to me about tonight because I'm pretty sure I could have just got some." Dee laughed and hugged her sister again before closing the door. "So what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming home or something? We could have planned a girl's night." They walked over to the couch and sat down, Mercedes looked at the screen and nodded in approval.

"Mmm, the Rock could get it." She grinned at her younger sister and then shrugged. "It was kind of a quick decision. I just wanted to...I wanted to see Sam." She fidgeted with her ring as she spoke. "I wanted to tell him how I felt but...he was with his girlfriend and I felt like I was intruding. I really shouldn't have thought surprising him would be a good idea." Dee gave Mercedes a weird look. "What? It was a bad idea and really awkward too because she was half naked when I walked in."

"Which heifer is dating Sam?" Mercedes laughed at the same name she had used so fondly for Veronica earlier that night. "Because the last time I spoke to him he was still single."

"Veronica. She was topless when I walked in and Sam was in the shower and she was kind of drunk." She shrugged. "It's okay if he's with her as long as he's happy." Dee burst out laughing and almost choked on her saliva. Mercedes pat her on the back. "I'm happy my pain amuses you."

"Fool, they are not dating." Dee choked out while still coughing. "Veronica only dates black men because she said they have bigger junk for her trunk. Plus, I'm pretty sure if you look hard enough at the Kim Kardashian and Ray J video, Veronica's somewhere in the background having a good ol' time." At this Mercedes stared open mouthed at her sister."Not even joking, that girl is a freak and trust me, everyone's seen her topless. Hell I've seen the woman bra less after one too many drinks." She kissed her teeth. "They did not look real at all."

"Wait, so Sam's single and I didn't walk in on them...together."

Dee shrugged. "Well they were probably going over a case or something. They do that a lot and sometimes Sam cracks open some wine when they're stressed out. Other than that...nah, they're just best friends or something like that." Mercedes leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh of relief. "I personally think Sam's still caught up on you."

"What? why? Did he say something?" Mercedes leaned forward and shook her sister.

Dee put her hand up in her sister's face. "Calm your tits. And no, it's just a feeling I get sometimes."

"Oh." She sighed. "Well we're meeting for lunch tomorrow...maybe I can tell him how I feel then." She bit her lip nervously and looked at her sister. "Or is that too soon?"

"It took you months to tell him before, I don't see the point in waiting another month to tell him." Dee smiled, "Stevie just admitted to me that he actually likes me...it's a good feeling." Mercedes laughed and pat her younger sister's hand.

"Are you still scared his thing will break off?"

Dee nodded as she absentmindedly stared at the television screen. "I bought some glue and Duct tape the other day. Do you think he'll need Viagra?" Mercedes pinched her sister's arm. "Damn Merce!"

"Dee the man hasn't had sex in three years. He didn't miraculously turn ninety eight yesterday." Dee rolled her eyes and then smiled.

"A girl has got to be prepared." Mercedes nodded and then grinned at her younger sister. "And if I need to crush up those damn blue pills and mix it in his ice cream to get his soldier ready for battle, then I will do it."

Mercedes eyes widened and she shook her head, "Yea pretty sure that's illegal. But as long as you don't kill him, everything should be alright. Any who, tell me everything that's happened with you since I've been gone." Dee turned her body towards her older sister and told her everything that she hadn't had time to mention in the last five months.

* * *

Sam turned off the kitchen light and slowly walked out into the foyer area. He glanced up the stairs and hoped that Veronica was alright and pushed his bedroom door open. Still shocked by Mercy's sudden appearance that night, he sat on the edge of his bed and put his head into his hands. Seeing her had brought back an alarming amount of feelings that he had refused to acknowledge since she left five months before. He ran his hand through his blonde hair and spotted the Spiderman journal on his desk. Slowly he got up and grabbed the book and the pen that laid on top of it. He hadn't written anything in it since he had gone to visit his foster parents about a month ago and he wasn't sure what made his hands twitch to write in it now. He thumbed through the pages and bit the end of his pen until he finally understood what he needed to write.

_Saw Mercy tonight and was confused as hell. Why did she come here first if no one else knew she was here to begin with? Did she want to apologise for all the shit that happened between us, or was she here to yell at me, but stopped herself because Ronnie was here? By the way, I wasn't happy that Ronnie wore my favourite shirt tonight. We all know she drools like a God damned Pit bull...not the rapper. But he looks like he probably drools too and smells like cheap cigars. Yea, anyways back to Mercy, I don't know what the hell we're going to talk about tomorrow. Maybe she met someone else and wants to tell me, I don't know anymore but she makes me nervous, and I hate feeling nervous or scared. It's not who I am and I hate when people make me feel that way. Shit, I sound like a sappy girl doing a 'dear diary'. Fuck where are my damn balls? I need to get laid. Fuck it, whatever happens tomorrow happens...but I miss her, I miss her smile, I miss her smell, I miss her attitude and I felt like tonight was awkward as hell. Whatever, I guess I'll figure this shit out tomorrow. Maybe we can be friends or something if she's moved on...friends with benefits like having sex in a hot tub. Wishful thinking?...nah. Alright I better stop writing before I grow a vagina or something, breasts I can deal with...vagina's seem like too much work and with my luck I'd get a damn uterus too. That's weird. _

He closed the book and shook his head. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for him and he told himself to keep his cool and not freak out. When he had seen her that night he had thought she was just a figment of his imagination. Whenever he wasn't exhausted he saw her in his dreams and wondered what their reunion would be like. Being naked and having a single towel wrapped around his waist never crossed his mind, but occasionally entered his perverted shower sex dreams. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a long day for him and he was going to need to sleep soon. Sam just hoped that dreams of the younger shorter woman didn't keep him up all night. As much as he hated to admit to himself, he had missed Mercedes a lot. _Who knows, maybe she loves me?_ Sam let the thought run through his mind before he started to laugh. _Yea, like she'd ever admit that._ He shook his head and curled up in his bed, hoping that everything would go well the next day.

A/N: Thanks J.G. and G.T for your help ladies, couldn't have done it without you weirdos. Please review, I love seeing your comments, but if you don't have time to, then that's cool!...Not really a pivotal chapter per say, but just setting things up for some fun! Alright bye ya'll. Thanks for still reading...lord knows why :P


	6. Chapter 6

Mercedes quickly headed over to her mother's apartment the day after she returned home from the Rues. Still having her key, she simply let herself in and searched around the apartment for her little dog Chewie. She had missed her companion over the time she had been gone and she knew she had been rather neglectful of him prior to that. So, she was hoping that he wouldn't be too upset with his mama. She realised that she was relieved as she walked through the quiet and empty apartment. Her mom was still at work, which was okay with Mercedes because although she had missed her mother tremendously, she didn't have time deal with her questions. Slowly opening her mother's bedroom door, she spotted Chewie on the bed. His ears immediately perked up and his bum began to wag as she smiled at him. "Chew Chew!" She squealed and the little dog jumped off the bed and ran to her feet. He barked slightly for her to pick him up and she obliged and cradled him in her arms. She cuddled the little dog to her face and she gave him kisses. "Aww Chew Chew, mama missed you too." She cooed at the little dog. Quickly popping him into the car and grabbing some of his toys, she slid into her car and drove off towards her next destination.

Her mother had told her how Chewie had gotten very sick a few months into Mercedes being away. Fortunately, he had quickly recovered after getting some medication from the veterinarian. Just to make sure that everything was still going smoothly, she decided to pop in to Stevie's practice and see if he had a time slot open for her. Pulling up to the building, she picked up Chewie, and headed towards the door. Once she stepped inside, she noticed that it was very busy and wondered if she should come back at another time. "How are you doing honey? How can we help you?" The older woman from behind the desk addressed her and squinted at her over her glasses. "You look...very familiar." She said. Mercedes smiled and walked towards her. "Oh wow, you must be Mercedes!" She beamed and extended her hand. Shifting Chewie to her shoulder, Mercedes reached out and shook it.

"Yes I am. You must know Dee then." She smiled brightly at the older woman, who nodded at her question. "She's my little sister."

"I love that girl, she comes in here and keeps the boss happy...which keeps me happy. Especially when he just throws raises at you for scratching your behind." She laughed and looked at the computer screen. "We're pretty booked today, but you can sit down and we'll try to fit you in." Mercedes smiled and thanked the woman before sitting down between an angry looking cat and an alligator in a cage. She sat there for about ten minutes before she saw Stevie come out with a very happy looking little girl and her bunny. The woman who stood beside him was blushing and whispering about something. Stevie uncomfortably shoved his hand in his pocket as he answered her question and then he looked down at the little girl and pat her head. Mercedes saw the woman give him a tight lipped smile and escorted her daughter out. She watched Stevie sigh and look around the room, catching her eye in the process. He waved awkwardly at her and approached her.

"Hey Cedes." He reached down and picked Chewie up and played with him in his arms. "You need a checkup I'm assuming?" Mercedes smiled at him and felt like something had kicked her in the stomach. This was the man she had hurt, and she had no idea if anything at this point was fixed. She was well aware that he was attracted to Dee, she could see it in his eyes the night before. But she wasn't sure how the relationship between him and her was doing. She slightly twisted her ring and stood up.

"Yea, I'm sorry for just barging in like this. I didn't think it'd be this busy." Stevie scratched Chewie's ears. "We can honestly come back at another time." Stevie looked up at her and laughed.

"Cedes, would I ever turn you and this cute little guy away?" He laughed. "It's cool, follow me." He turned around, said something quietly to the receptionist, and then entered his lab. "Okay so what's wrong with Chewie?" He placed the energetic dog on to a table and gently rubbed his back.

Mercedes smiled. "Hey you're the vet, shouldn't you know these things?" She walked over to a chair in the corner and sat down. "Because if I have to diagnose him on my own, I'm more than willing to pay myself." She joked around and hoped that he could tell that she was kidding. She couldn't remember ever feeling more awkward with the taller blonde. Stevie stared at her and then rolled his eyes.

"Between you and Dee, I'm going to die young from the rude ass comments you two make." He laughed and then his face grew serious. "No, I mean has anything been up with him lately? Has he gotten sick? Not eating?..." He trailed off. Mercedes sat up straighter in the chair and tried to think of what her mom said.

"He wasn't really eating a few months ago, but my mom took him to a vet and they put him on some med's. He's been okay since then, but I just want to double check with you." Stevie nodded and put his stethoscope in his ears as he listened to the little dogs breathing. He was silent for a few moments and then jotted something down on a clipboard.

"What are you feeding him?" He questioned as he continued to write on the clipboard. Mercedes bit her lip as she tried to figure out what her mom had been giving him. "You look so confused." He laughed and stared at her. "Well I hope you're feeding him something." Mercedes laughed and kissed her teeth.

"Shut up." She smiled, "I'm not too sure because my mom had him while I was gone...so she could have been buying something else for him." Stevie nodded and jotted down what she said. As she stared at his face, she wondered if he was okay, if he was happy now. She also wanted to make sure that he was going to take care of her little sister.

"Okay, well make sure that you're keeping his food's consistent and that you're not feeding him too much. Other than that, he's okay...he has a slight cold though so keep an eye on him." He smiled and playfully scratched the small dog all over. Mercedes smiled at the interaction between himself and Chewie. She remembered when Stevie would come over, how much the two got along. Oddly enough, she couldn't remember ever introducing Chewie to Sam. Perhaps it was because he really didn't scream out animal lover like Stevie did. As if hearing her thoughts, he looked over at her staring at him and raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry I'm not going to charge you if that's what you're worried about." Mercedes laughed and tore her eyes away from him. She smiled and looked back up.

"That's not what I was thinking, but who am I to say no to free service." She laughed and stood up. "So Stevie...you and my sister..." She left it at that and gave him a stern look. A look of panic crossed his face.

"I...what? No...okay so yea she woke up naked in my bed after she got really drunk one night, but I swear I didn't touch or look at anything!" He exclaimed and his wild eyes scanned her face. Mercedes was left speechless. Dee hadn't told her any of that information and it took her a moment to process before she started laughing. Stevie stared at her in confusion and scratched the back of his neck. "So you're not mad then?... Because you know I'd never ever take advantage of Dee." He said sincerely. Mercedes stopped laughing and listened to him. She shook her head and smiled.

"I was laughing because I didn't know any of that. But I'm not surprised you didn't do anything." She lightly touched his arm. "You're a good guy and I trust you with my sister, but since I am the oldest, I have to threaten to cut your balls off and use them as either earrings or golf balls." She laughed. "And trust me, nobody wants that." Stevie's expression fell.

"You...didn't know about any of that. And I just told you..." He groaned and smirked. "Great." Mercedes laughed along with him.

"It's cool. Just be warned...Dee's a freak, but I love her and like I said, I trust you to take care of her. And I want to thank you for doing just that since I left. Even after...everything." She said the last part quietly and looked down at her feet. Everything just felt awkward. Stevie put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look at him.

"Listen. I was mad...and I was hurt after you left. We both fucked up, I get that." He removed his finger and shoved his hands in his pocket and smiled. "I don't regret anything though, because if I hadn't met you, I would have never met Dee." He laughed and rolled his eyes. "As corny as that sounds and as insane as she is, I like her." Mercedes smiled and a warmth spread over her. She didn't know what it was, but she held high hopes for Dee and Stevie. It was just the way that they spoke about each other. "But you and I are okay, don't worry. Well, unless you plan on playing the annoying sister that gets involved too damn much. Then we're going to have a problem." He leaned over and picked Chewie up. Mercedes stretched out her arms and scooped him into them.

"Fool I do what I want." She laughed and cuddled the dog. "But, I will stay out of your business with Dee, but if you as so much make her bawl and cry. I will snatch out your pretty blue eyes so fast and use them as marbles." Stevie burst out laughing.

"What's with you and my round body parts? And who the hell still uses marbles? And no, I don't intend on making her cry, but we haven't even started dating yet. So, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm getting old, but marriage and all of that..." he shook his head. "Not on my to do list for like...ten years." Mercedes smirked. He didn't know her sister yet. If Dee wanted to marry him yesterday, it would have happened. "And what about your relationship with the old man? Are you guys..." He raised his eyebrows. "You know...working things out?" Mercedes' smile fell at the mention of Sam. She didn't know what to think exactly.

"Um...I don't know. We're meeting today for lunch...I'm going to tell him that I love him." Unable to spin her ring, she shifted her feet. "Are you okay with me being with Sam?" She was no longer going to assume things in her life. If she wanted to know something, she'd be honest about it and ask. Stevie slowly nodded.

"I'm definitely okay with it...he's made a lot of progress since you've been gone."

"Really? That's great!" She beamed. "I think I'm getting better too, slowly but surely." Her eyes twinkled at the prospect of working things out with Sam. She didn't mind starting from fresh if it meant that they could be together.

"He's getting better, but I think he still needs time." Mercedes expression fell and was replaced with worry. "No don't make that face, that's just what _I_ think. But, talk to him today at lunch and see for yourself." He looked at the time and frowned. "I have to see my other patients, but we all should meet up sometime and just hang." He wrote a few more things on his clipboard and then escorted her out to the waiting area.

"Yea, that'd be nice." She smiled. "I'll let you know depending on how today goes." Stevie nodded.

"Well I'm happy you're back Cedes." He leaned in and gave her hug, much to Chewie's annoyance who was in between them. "Missed you too Chew Chew." He scratched the little dogs head. Mercedes smiled and thanked the receptionist, before heading out to her car and hoping for the best today.

* * *

Mercedes pulled up to the Coffee Time that she and Sam had agreed to meet at for noon. She looked at the clock and saw that she had fifteen minutes before she actually had to get inside. Sighing and taking deep breaths to calm herself, she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She couldn't remember being so nervous before. Absentmindedly, she twisted her ring and prayed to God that everything would be alright. Opening her eyes, she reached over and rummaged in her purse for her Ipod. Connecting it to the jack hanging out of her radio, she plugged in the device, and scrolled to Bob Marley's _Three Little Birds_. "Take me away Marley." She said quietly as she listened to the calming words float over her body. "This is my message to you-ou-ou." She sang out and swayed to the music. "Don't worry, about a thing, cause Sam and Mercy...gonna be alright!" She wanted that more than anything. After everything that happened she knew that he was the one for her and she missed his smart ass remarks and humour. She missed the bantering and the hiding of the cereal and she wanted to be near him not as his employee, but as something much more. Putting herself out there was going to be a challenge, but if he was willing to start over, she'd be honest with him about everything.

A loud knock on her window made her jump out of her seat and she looked over to see Sam standing by her car door with his shades on. She rolled down the window and he leaned into her car and rested his arms on her door. "This is some good shit Mercy." He grinned at her and her hands began to sweat at the close proximity of his face to hers.

She wanted more than anything to just reach out and touch his beard, or just feel how smooth his lips were with the tip of her fingers. Laughing, she turned off the music and bit her lip. "Of course I listen to good music, what's wrong with you?" She smiled at him. He pulled off his sunglasses and stared into her eyes. He grinned and moved out from her window.

"Nah, I've heard some of your music before...remember 'Stupid Hoe' by that girl. That music is pretty questionable if you ask me." Mercedes rolled her eyes, grabbed her purse, and slipped out of the car. She stood in front of him and placed her hands on her hips.

"Do you have millions of dollars?"

Sam smirked, "No."

"Well she does, so who's the stupid hoe now?" Sam's expression fell and he shook his head. Mercedes smiled. This was the rude as hell Sam she missed, her heart skipped a beat just by looking at him. She smiled at him and then looked down as she felt her face get hot.

"Okay, I won't make fun of your shitty music anymore...well for now." He laughed and took a deep breath. "Let's head inside." Sam turned around and held the door open for her and they found a small table in the back. He nervously rubbed his hands together to get out the nervous energy and then he looked at her. "Are you hungry?" Mercedes bit her lip and shook her head. She was too nervous to eat anything. At this point she was even having trouble breathing. Saying I love you wasn't an easy thing to do for her, in fact, she remembered telling Stevie, but didn't remember telling Sam. She rolled her eyes at herself, of course she never told Sam, she didn't even realise she loved him before. "What's going on in that mind of yours?" Mercedes looked up to see curious emerald green eyes staring at her. She laughed and moved a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Nothing...just not hungry." Sam nodded and looked away from her. Mercedes sighed, this was going to be a lot harder than she thought. "So, um...how are you?" He shrugged and bit his lip.

"Alright I guess." She watched as his eye twitched and she tried not to laugh. Before that damn eye twitch used to get her, but now she just realised how much she missed it. "To be honest, I've just been really busy. I've been working on those back logged cases from when I was off work, so I'm always on the go." Mercedes nodded, she could definitely understand that. She remembered how busy he was in between his physiotherapy and trying to stay on top of his cases.

"Well that's good that you're staying busy...um, so what else? How are you and Veronica?" Sam looked at her and smiled. She hoped that she didn't come off sounding too jealous. Dee had told her that there was nothing going between them, but she needed to know from him. Hearsay wasn't going to cut it.

"She's good. We're as good as two _friends_ can be." He grinned and then stood up, "I feel tired, I'm going to get a coffee. Are you sure you're okay?" Mercedes beamed at the man and nodded. He raised his eyebrow and turned away to get his coffee. She was entirely ecstatic that he had emphasized that he and Veronica were only friends. Maybe he was hinting at her to make her move. When he sat back down, she decided to just ask him one more question before telling him what she'd been through since she left and how she was ready to work on a relationship with him if he wanted her.

"So you're not dating? Okay cool." She smiled and then looked at him with an intense serious expression. "Are you happy Sam?" He took a sip of his coffee and then returned the same steady gaze.

"This isn't going to be just a shoot the wind kind of get together is it?" A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Mercedes smiled and slowly shook her head. He rubbed his hand down his face and nodded. "I'm not dating Veronica and I am happy right now." Sam put the coffee cup down and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm the happiest I have ever been in my life Mercy. I love my little bro and we're fixing our problems and figuring out why they're there to begin with. I actually have friends that I hang out with once in awhile. Rachel is starting to actually look better, like to the point that I don't keep scissors in my drawers to gouge my eyes out. And I've been seeing my foster parents every Friday for dinner for a bit." Sam looked down and smiled. He had never laid out his life like that before and he realised that it was the first time that he was actually that happy. "My life is slowly changing...I'm not saying it's perfect. But right now it's good enough for me. You know what I mean?" It was good enough, but he knew it could get a lot better if he had a certain someone in his life. His eyes scanned her face for any kind of expression, but saw none. Sam hoped that maybe they could work things out, but he was unsure if Mercedes was still in love with Stevie. He wondered if he should break the news to her about Stevie and Dee. "Therapy has been really amazing too."

"I..." She paused and looked away. "That's so good Sam." He gave her a confused look and then took another sip of his drink.

"By the way...uh Stevie and Dee..."

"I know they like each other." She turned her head to look at him and he stared at the pain in her eyes. He ground his teeth as he realised that she must still be into Stevie and was hurting because he moved on with her sister. "I told him he better not hurt her or I'm using his body parts for non body like things." She laughed and shook her head. "Like I'm happy for them and it's so weird, that it's not weird." Sam let out a sigh of relief when he realised that his previous assumptions were incorrect. So why had she looked so upset?

"No, I know what you mean. They surprisingly work well together." He laughed, "You should see how much they annoy each other to death and then annoy me in the same damn process." Mercedes bit her lip and nodded. "Are you okay, you're acting really off?"

"No, I'm good, just tired." She smiled and Sam could see her inner struggle not to twist her ring. Her hand would inch towards the other and then quickly pull back. "It was a long drive back home last night and then I had to get re-acquainted with my bed. So I didn't really sleep."

"Oh yea, I get that. Well how about you...how have you been?" He watched as Mercedes shifted uncomfortably in her seat and he wondered when the switch from being friendly and joking around went to this.

"I've been great. Working on myself too...haven't made as much progress as you, but you know. I do my best, but I am so happy for you though and your progress since I've been gone. It's insane." She smiled weakly. "Don't let anything get in the way of your progress." Sam raised his eyebrow.

"Like what?"

"Like a relationship." She said pointedly. "It could set you back."

"Well I guess, but realistically anything could set me back."He shrugged. "Plus I told you I'm not with someone."

"You should keep it that way and focus all your energies on becoming an even better you. You honestly deserve it." Sam was about to answer that being with her would make him a better Sam, when she suddenly jumped up and smiled. "I actually have to go, I'm sorry for cutting the visit short...but maybe we can hang out sometime?" Sam sat there baffled and confused. _Is this girl off her meds? Do I smell?_ He stood up to and picked up his coffee.

"Okay?" He had no idea what to say to this very erratic woman. She leaned in to give him a quick hug before quickly walking out of the building. He stared at the door she had left through and began to speak to himself. "Sure, see you later Mercedes, oh and I want to take you out on a date, hope that's cool with you. Oh it is? I'll pick you up never, since your ass just ran out of her like Usain Bolt." He groaned out in frustration and a lady sitting at another table stared at him. "I'm trying to have a damn private conversation. Do you mind?" With that he briskly walked out to his car and drove back to his office.

* * *

Dee paced back and forth in her apartment as she stared at her house phone. She had ordered Chinese food half an hour before and was anxious for it to get there before Stevie did for dinner. Her pocket vibrated and she scrolled down to see a text from him saying that he'd be there soon. She groaned. Why did she have to boost herself up and say that she cooked the best Chinese food, when the girl knew she had burned water once? Hearing her house phone ring, she quickly buzzed up the delivery guy, tipped him, and gave him and extra two dollars to use the stairs instead of the elevator. She threw the food into pots and pans and then poured them on to plates. Smirking at her cleverness, she put the dirty pots and pans into the sink. Dee was about to throw the containers down the chute in the hall when she heard the knock on her door. _Shit, he probably conned an old lady to get in._ She threw the boxes in her already full garbage and then threw a towel over it so that he wouldn't see them in there.

Fixing her dress and flipping her hair, she took a deep breath before opening the door. When she opened it, Stevie stood there in a dark blue long sleeve shirt, with a few buttons at the neck, which was open, and a pair of dark blue jeans. Dee mentally fanned herself and stepped back. "Hey good lookin." She smiled as he walked past her. He grinned down at her and laughed.

"You look...really sexy right now." Dee smiled and closed the door behind him.

"Oh I know." She laughed and walked towards him to give him a huge hug. He bent his knees and picked her up. She squealed in delight. "Oh damn you smell good too." She mumbled into his neck.

"I know." He smiled and put her down. He sniffed the air and licked his lips. "Mmm something smells good."

"Yea, it's me."She grinned and adjusted her dress. "It's vanilla." Stevie rolled his eyes at her and chuckled.

"Unless you're wearing au de Chinese food...I think it's what's in those plates on the counter." Dee laughed and nodded.

"Oh yea, I just threw a little something together. Did you want a drink?" Stevie shook his head.

"I can't stay too long because of work in the morning and I can't drink because I drove." Feeling a bit disappointed she frowned but tried to cover it up with a smile. "I'm sorry Dee, it's just me alone at the practice and for some reason animals have been busy as hell lately." She grinned. She knew how busy he was and was happy that he still took the time to see her.

"It's cool, but you owe me."She poked him in the chest and sauntered over to the kitchen, making sure to swing her hips and shake her ass for him to see. Stevie's eyes widened as he followed her into the kitchen. He had to clench his hands so that he wouldn't just reach out and smack Dee's romp. She dropped something on the ground and bent over to the point where Stevie could see her underwear. He looked away and tried not to focus on the growing tightness in his pants. It wouldn't do him any good to think about pushing the cloth that covered her plump lips and having a snack before dinner. "Can you carry these to the little table over there?"

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Stevie took the plates with food and headed to the table in the corner. Dee followed after him with cutlery and empty plates. She set them down across from each other and Stevie quickly ran to pull out her chair for her. "Oh you fancy huh?"

"Yea, I guess." He laughed and walked over to his own chair.

"Uh huh, just letting you know I could have done that by myself had I wanted to." She smirked and grabbed some food and put it on her plate.

"Yea, I know. It seems to be the level of work that you're able to accomplish." He stared at her as he put some food on his plate. Dee cracked up and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, but you wrong though." Stevie smiled and forked some food in his mouth. Dee followed suit and started to eat.

"Wow."He said after he finished his mouthful. "This is actually good. I'm actually surprised." He grinned at her and picked up another forkful.

Dee scoffed. "Don't be surprised that I'm awesome at everything. I know I'm not, it's just hard to be this blessed sometimes." Stevie let out a loud laugh and shook his head.

"I like your confidence. It's sexy." Dee hadn't expected the compliment and dropped some food on her dress. She jumped up and the food rolled off on to the ground.

"Shit, sorry Stevie." He shook his head and handed her a napkin.

"No it's fine. I'll clean that up. Just put some water on it or something." Dee nodded and hurried off to the bathroom. Stevie picked up the food with another tissue and walked to the garbage to throw it away, when he saw the containers. "Oh what a sneak." He laughed but was flattered that she had gone through all of that trouble for him. Smiling, he sat back down and continued to eat. He wanted to wait, but he was starving. Dee came back out towards him wearing an even shorter dress. He dropped his fork in his plate with a loud clatter.

"I had to hang it up so that it can dry." She smiled sweetly and bent over so that he could see the swell of her breasts. Stevie looked away and stared hard at his food. He was trying his best not to stare at her breasts, but was failing miserably. "Are you okay? Is your food warm enough?" He grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"Now that I think about it, could we send it back to the restaurant and ask for more shrimps?" He smirked and then laughed. Dee looked at him with surprise and felt a heat rise to her face.

"Listen, I didn't want to waste time cooking for you anyways." She scowled and Stevie touched her hand.

"I think it's awesome that you would do this for me." He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her fingers. Dee could feel herself getting aroused by something as innocent as a hand kiss. Feeling the need to make him feel worse for being an ass, she pouted and stood up.

"Whatever," She said as she walked away from the table and sat down on the couch. Stevie sighed and sat down beside her. She turned her face away from him and he took his forefinger and turned her face to look at him.

"I'm really happy you invited me here for dinner...even if it was sham." He laughed and gently tickled her until she couldn't help but smile. "There's that smile that I like." He grinned and looked at the time. He was tired and should be heading home. Dee placed her head on his chest and he sighed. "I should be going." Her head snapped up and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine fine." She moved over to the other side of the couch. Stevie slid over to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"We can hang out another time." He was about to stand up when he heard Dee laugh. "What?" he looked at her in confusion.

"Oh nothing, I was just laughing at how pathetic that kiss was...but it's cool." She studied her nails and Stevie raised an eyebrow. "I don't know...I had more hope for you." Dee looked up at him and smirked. But just as fast as the smirk came, it went when she felt Stevie's lips on top of hers. He snaked his tongue inside her mouth and she let out a moan as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hand slowly slid down her outer thigh and then slowly moved towards the inside. Dee automatically opened her legs for him, begging for him to touch her. She hadn't had sex in too damn long. His finger teasingly rubbed her cloth covered wet slit. Dee reached down between them to move her panty aside, but he grabbed her hands and held them above her head. He pulled back from the kiss and slipped between her legs and quickly licked her through the wet cloth. Her hands tangled in his long hair and her back arched from the unexpected pleasure, when just as quickly as everything started it stopped. Stevie came out from between her legs and gave her a peck on the lips. His face was flushed and he was panting.

"Thanks for dinner. Seeya." He hurried out of the apartment, leaving Dee on the couch in shock.

"Well, shit. I knew I shouldn't have worn panty's, the barrier probably threw him the hell off."

A/N: Sorry this took so long, hope you guys enjoyed it, review if you have the time and tell me what you think happened to Mercy and then what happened to Stevie. Thanks to J.G and G.T for your help lovelies. And thank you to my readers for still hanging in there with me, I am thoroughly surprised.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam sat in his office glaring at the screen. He still didn't understand what the hell had happened between himself and Mercedes the week before and it was interfering with his job. From the corner of his eye, he watched Rachel quietly and slowly slip into his office and put a folder on his desk. She refused to look at him and he wasn't even sure that she was breathing. He had snapped at her earlier that week about her filing being sloppy and had proceeded to call her Snuffleupagus. The younger woman had run out of the office crying and Sam had felt like a bigger asshole ever since. "Thank you Rachel." He said quickly and the woman jumped back in fear. She bit her lip and nodded before disappearing out of the room. Sam dragged a hand over his face and groaned. He was tired of things not going right for him and he wasn't exactly sure on how to fix it all. He was about ready to just give up and move on. He couldn't fight for a woman who didn't seem to want him anymore. Leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes, he wondered if Mercedes had a disability fetish. Maybe she had only been with him because of his bad leg, as he processed the idea more and more, he convinced himself that she no longer wanted him because he could walk. As he let his insane reasoning soak into his head, his brother walked into his office, closed the door, and frowned at him. Sam looked at him carefully and wondered what it was that he had done now. "What?" He threw his hands up. "What did I do now?"

"You broke her. How the hell did you break Rachel?" Stevie shook his head and sat down. "I smiled at her and told her she looked nice today. You know what she said Sam? She said that 'she supposed she looked good for an imaginary woolly mammoth.'" Stevie folded his arms over his chest. Sam raised an eyebrow and nodded. "She has snapped like a dry twig on a windy day Sam."

"Okay, well you see...what had happened was...I called her Snuffleupagus because I was angry." He picked up his pen and clicked it. "And she may be suffering a mental breakdown now. But to be honest, that probably has nothing to do with me." He bit his lip and ignored Stevie's widening eyes. He felt bad as it was, he didn't need his little brother making him feel worse. "It's cool, I apologised and I'm sending her on a vacation as soon as I get all my shit together. I'm just hoping she holds herself together until December of 2015." He shrugged. "It's okay, I bring her a muffin every day. Everybody likes muffins." Stevie closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sam took the opportunity to let out a long breath. He knew Stevie was annoyed so he thought it was best to change to topic. "Do you think Mercedes was only into me because I couldn't walk? Do you think that was the deal breaker? Because I saw this thing on 1000 ways to die once and this guy liked to have _the sexy times_ with women with missing body parts and-"

"Sam..."

"And I wonder if she only found me attractive because I could wheel her around the house if I wanted to—"

"Sam!"

"I was going to install those like elevators, you know the ones that I'm talking about. The ones you attach to the banister and they just carry you up. Maybe she got mad because I didn't need it anymore." Sam looked at his computer screen for a moment. "That guy who liked sleeping with chicks with missing body parts died...you know how he died?" He turned his head to look at Stevie who was rolling his eyes. "He choked after swallowing a false eye that was soaking in a cup...nasty right? Yea I thought it was nasty too." He looked back at the screen. "Maybe I should look up that fetish and ask Mercedes—"

"Sam what the hell happened at the lunch?" Stevie interrupted him again and leaned forward. "Because you are honestly acting more abnormal than usual and it's kind of disturbing me." Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Let's just say, I have never seen a woman run that fast to get away from me before. Dude she was like the Flash. I was telling her about how I've been these last few months because she asked me how I was doing and then she started to make no sense and just ran out." Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm tired of her fucking running away from me Stevie. I'm an asshole, yea I get it. But I've gotten a lot better and I want a woman to run to my office, butt ass naked, and then spread her legs and give me a vagina sandwich for lunch." He shrugged. "I don't think I'm asking for much. It's not like I would expect her to do that in the winter. I'm not cruel like that, this isn't cruel intentions." Stevie squinted his eyes at his older brother and then tried to make sense of what was said.

"So you guys went to lunch and she ran away?" Stevie asked in confusion. Sam bit his lip and nodded.

"Mercy was Gone Like the Wind Stevie. Just whoosh, gone." He still couldn't believe that it had actually happened, that she would just run out on him like that, especially after he was about to tell her how much he loved and missed her. "You know what? I'm tired, I do not give a damn anymore. She's just lucky I didn't have my wheelchair, I would have ran her ass down and made her talk to me."

Stevie laughed and shook his head. "I think you should talk to her Old Man." Sam scoffed as he looked at Stevie.

"Listen, I already tried. Unless I tie her down or lock her up, her ass is just going to bolt again. Plus, why should I try? I'm not the one who ran." Sam was tired of chasing after women, this was exactly why he didn't care about them from the very beginning. In fact Quinn had called him the other day and he had just hung the phone up, but now he was wondering if he should call her back. "Quinn was hot right?" Sam asked offhandedly. Stevie leaned over and flicked Sam in the forehead.

"I don't want you to mention that demon's name again. Stay away from her, she will suck out your soul and take your money." Stevie glared at Sam and Sam rubbed his forehead. He had forgotten about how much Stevie loathed the blonde woman. "Alright I see your point, but I just sympathise with Mercedes because... I too am a runner." He looked down in shame and then looked back up to gauge his brother's reaction. "I maybe, possibly, high tailed it out of Dee's apartment while we were getting intimate."

Sam's eyebrows rose up. "And you still have a penis?" Sam leaned forward in his chair. "Because Dee seems like one of those girls to slip into your house, cut your dick off with a dull pair of scissors, and mail that shit back to you through Fedex." Stevie groaned at the image.

"I really needed that visual old man. Thanks." Sam shrugged at his younger brother and Stevie shook his head. "I panicked. I realised that what we were doing was going to escalate and we were going to have sex." He sighed. "I haven't had sex in almost four fucking years." His eyes widened at the realisation and Sam let out a low whistle between his teeth.

"So you have essentially become a virgin again? Your penis has forgotten what a vagina looks like, it was probably why you went into shock." Sam levelled his gaze with his brother. Stevie scoffed and then thought it over before slowly nodding.

"Sure. I guess you can say that." Stevie ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, there's nothing to be worried about right? It's like riding a bike." Sam raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side as he studied Stevie's face.

"If sex is like riding a bike, I need to know what bike you have been riding, where I can purchase it, if I can get two, if there are coupons, and how do I sign up for at least a ten year warranty." He laughed and shook his head. "Trust me, there is no bike ride that can compare to sex lil bro. But all you need to do is practice."

Stevie furrowed his eyebrows. "I should just practice with Dee? Well I guess that's a good idea." He slowly nodded as the idea sunk in. Dee didn't seem like a woman who would make fun of him, in fact she was patient and kind and loving, although she could be a bit insane. A small smile graced his lips as he thought about finally being able to show her how he felt in a less conventional way.

"Dee?" Sam laughed. "Oh no no no, you can't practice with Dee, she's the grand prize Stevie. You don't run a race without practicing do you?" Sam rummaged through his drawer and pulled out a business card and flung it on his desk. "I represented this woman once before in court. Her name is one armed Lola. Alright now she doesn't have any teeth, her eyesight is poor, which in your case is good for you, she's as bald as Mr. Clean, and if she's servicing your Johnson you can look at your reflection on the top of her head. But I can assure you that you will get all the practice that you will ever need." Stevie stared at the card and pulled a disgusted expression.

"I think you forgot to mention the fact that she's one armed and probably has a thousand STIs, probably some named after her." He pushed the item away with a pen.

"Well the one armed thing was explanatory. Could you imagine someone named one armed Lola who was in fact missing a leg? I, for one, wouldn't be able to trust that individual in the future." Sam chuckled. "I was going to say in the long _run_, but then I thought about her having a missing leg..." Stevie groaned in frustration. "And she's as clean as a very much used whistle. Just shake her out."

"I'm so happy that I have you to talk to about serious matters with." Stevie said sarcastically as he looked over at his absurd brother. He rubbed his hand over his forhead. "I just don't know what I'm doing and I don't want to mess it up." He shrugged. "I really like her and I don't want to disappoint her." Sam nodded and then sighed.

"Alright, well how about you sneak a vibrator into the room and pretend it's your own johnson. Just say you have one of those vibrating dick rings or something. You could keep it up for years if you just manage to hide your endless supply of batteries." Stevie stood up and shook his head.

"And this conversation is over because you're a moron." Sam laughed loudly and grinned. Stevie rolled his eyes and grinned back. "I'm going to go back to work. But do me a favour and talk to Mercedes as soon as you can." Sam stood up and escorted his brother to his door. He leaned against the stained wood and sighed.

"I'll see what I can do because right now I'm fine just not bothering anymore." Stevie sighed and nodded before he left the room. Sam watched his brother leave the office and slowly turned his head to see Rachel glaring at him. "What? Did you want another muffin? Would you like me to butter your muffin? No? Not a butter kind of girl?" She huffed and carried on with her work as Sam wondered if he should get her cookies instead and walked back into his office whistling _Copacabana _under his breath.

* * *

Sam let out a long sigh before he blew on his hot coffee. The weather was getting colder and his leg was throbbing from the change in temperature. He wasn't sure what exactly he needed to do with the Mercedes situation and as much as he wanted to deny that it wasn't bothering him, he couldn't. Hearing his door open, he looked up from his steaming hot mug and his eyes followed the tall long legged woman who had just entered his office. Sam couldn't help but whistle as she sat down. Veronica pulled off her coat and rolled her eyes at her good friend. "Really Sam?" She laughed as she draped her coat on the back of her chair.

"Hey, I'm just showing support for your short skirt choices. Aren't friends supposed to support each other?" He grinned and Veronica threw a pen at him, which he quickly caught in his left hand.

"Uh huh." She laughed, took his coffee from him, and sipped some of the strong liquid. She made a face, shrugged, and continued to drink. Sam scoffed at her and she gave him a pointed stare. "Listen, I'm tired and I could be napping under my desk in my office right now, but you said you had an emergency, so here I am stealing your coffee. Suck it up." Sam picked up his phone to call Rachel and tell her to bring him some more coffee. "She's not out there." Veronica said as she stared at the phone in his hand. Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "She's at my office being interviewed by another lawyer to be his receptionist. I don't know what you did to her Sam, but she apparently had enough." His eyes widened in shock and he leaned back in his chair. As hideous as he found her clothing, he really did believe that Rachel had been a good receptionist for him the last few years.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" He said in annoyance. "I would have never let you take my coffee had I known my receptionist was trying to quit on me." he shook his head. "I gave her the best muffins of her life." Veronica raised an eyebrow.

"Is that code for something sexual, because if it is I would like to know what it is so that I can use it on my date next week." She chuckled into the coffee and Sam vigorously shook his head. "How are your parents?"

"They're actually pretty good. Dad has taken to hiding Bertha so that mom doesn't give it to the homeless while he's out. He even hides it when he's sleeping. It's getting serious Ronnie." Veronica laughed and set the cup down. "But, overall they're alright." Sam ran a hand through his hair and yawned.

Veronica cocked her head to the side as she studied him. "This has to do with Mercedes doesn't it?" Sam looked at her in surprise. "You don't sleep well when it comes to her and you told me you were supposed to meet up, but never told me what happened. And you also don't seem very happy."

"Well excuse me Nancy Drew."Sam laughed. "If being a lawyer doesn't work for you in the long run, maybe you can look into detective work. Can I call you Tin Tin?" Veronica didn't answer but her look was enough to shut Sam up. "Alright, yea, this has everything to do with Mercedes Jones. Or Kia...as you called her." Veronica burst out laughing and covered her face.

"I am so sorry about that. I really need to call her and apologize." Sam waved his hand as a dismissal of the thought.

"I think she was probably more upset to see you there topless." He shook his head, "But we went to lunch and I wanted to tell her that I still love her and that I want her in my life, but she panicked before I could even say anything and just left." Veronica slowly nodded.

"Good." She said simply and drank more of the bitter coffee. "Do you not have sugar or some creamers in here?" Sam stared at her in confusion. "The coffee's bitter." She looked back at him as if he were stupid.

"What do you mean by 'Good'? How is any of that good?" He leaned forward and slightly glared at the other woman. Veronica put the coffee down and looked to the side as she thought of what to say.

"Sam, she _just _got back from being away for months and having to deal with everything that had happened before. I think she needs time to settle in and adjust before you go all out and blurt that you love her. I think you should just give her some time to figure out her own shit too." She shrugged and Sam fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"I think you're wrong. I think she was ready the minute she came to my house that night."

"Sam, look at where your impulsiveness has already left you in the past. First you got hit by a car because of your messed up attitude and impulsive behaviour. And let's not forget the time you interfered with Mercedes and Stevie's relationship. All because of your impulsiveness." She stared into his green eyes and Sam looked away. "Look at all of the progress you've made since she left. You've come a long way Evans and you need to make sure that you're actually ready for this and not just jumping into things because she's back." Sam closed his eyes as he let the words sink in. Veronica reached out and touched his hand. "I know you don't want to hear it. But I'm just trying to look out for you and if you really want to be with her, then you both need a bit of time to sort out your lives."

Sam sighed and glared at the table. "Fine. I'll give her the time that she needs, because obviously there was something going on with her that made her run away like that. I just don't want to wait."

"Just follow her lead until you know what to do. But make sure to think of yourself too Sam, it would suck if you went through all of that progress only to revert back to the way you used to be."

"I used to be a bad ass." Sam chuckled.

"No, you were just an ass. That was pretty much it." She smiled at him and Sam resisted the urge to throw a pen at her. But overall, he knew that what she was saying actually made sense. "It'll work out. You'll see. All in due time." Sam grumbled as he nodded in agreement. The last thing that he wanted to do was scare Mercedes or push her away again. If Veronica was right and all Mercedes needed was some time, then he would wait. But he never intended to stop working on himself if Mercedes was part of his life again, but he thought it would be best to talk to Emma about everything before he made a mistake.

"Fine I'll wait, but if she finds another dude in the time that I don't do anything, you're entitled to have my firstborn child." Veronica stared at him for a moment and then shrugged.

"Sounds fair." She smiled and Sam rolled his eyes. A knock sounded on his door and Rachel poked her head inside.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that you had company." She blushed and was about to pop back out when Sam called her back.

"Rachel, bring me some more coffee and you're getting a raise." Rachel stood standing at the door for a moment in utter shock and her mouth fell open. "Your clothes have significantly improved from trash can fire worthiness to ah hell just cover it up with a paper bag. So I figured a raise would be able to keep it consistent." She smiled and slowly nodded.

"Thank you Mr. Evans." He nodded and she slipped back out. Veronica looked at him and began to laugh hysterically. Sam looked at her like she was insane.

"Ronnie are you on something? Why haven't you shared? Is it brownies?" He stared at her in curiosity. When she finally calmed down she took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Nope. But I saw Rachel heading to the photocopy room before I got in here and thought that it was about time that you realised how important she was to you before it was too late. And you just proved me right." She folded her arms across her chest. Sam stared at her in shock for a moment before rolling his eyes.

"I'm only giving her an extra dollar an hour. She is no redhead and I am not Daddy Warbucks. I'm more like papa no bucks. To be honest, I could hire Bubbles the chimp and get the same amount of work done. But he's dead, so Rachel got the job." Veronica scoffed at Sam and then chuckled.

"Do you really want karma to take a whack at your other leg?" Sam shrugged and looked at his computer screen. He intended to give Rachel more than a dollar. In reality it would be a win win situation. She would receive more money and Sam could only hope that she would buy new and better looking clothes with it.

"If it did, I could partner up with Lola." Veronica looked at him with a confused expression. "Never mind." Sam laughed and pulled out some cases to speak with her about as he took his mind off of Mercedes.

* * *

Dee laid face down on her bed and sighed loudly as her sister stared at her from her corner of the mattress. Mercedes was trying her best not to laugh at the sight of her younger sister. "Dee, did you really just ask me if you smelled funny?" Dee nodded and said something into the mattress. "What?"

She rolled over and looked at Mercedes with a sad expression. "I said yes, because my vagina is the main course of any damn meal and Stevie only wanted to stay for the appetizers. Fool, didn't even want a doggy bag." Mercedes covered her mouth to silence her laughter. "Do you think he's gay. Santana always told me to beware of men with big lips. Why didn't I listen?!" Mercedes picked up a pillow and flung it at her sister.

"He is not gay." She rolled her eyes and folded her legs beneath her.

"Oh my God Mercy, what if he's racist and we just never realised." Mercedes kissed her teeth and gave her sister a pointed stare. "I just need something to help me understand why he would just leave like that and now he doesn't even text me as much." She rolled on to her back.

Mercedes sighed and pat her sister's knee. "Maybe he got scared and thought you weren't ready for that." Dee shook her head no.

"Girl I was one lick away from being naked and I'm sure he could sense that too. Whatever, he's a racist gay man, let's just leave it at that." She curled up into the fetal position and laid on her side. "I give up. If he doesn't want me then fine, I'll find someone who is man enough to handle all of this." She groaned and began singing, "_While all the time that I was loving you, you were busy loving yourself, I would stop breathing if you told me to, now you're busy loving someone else, ELEVEN YEARS OUT OF MY LIFE, BESIDES THE KIDS I HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW_...ow!" Dee looked at the spot on her arm that her sister had just pinched.

"This is not a scene from Waiting to Exhale fool. And what kids?" Dee scowled at her sister and rolled her eyes.

"Why can't you just let me sulk in my unhappiness or at least let me call someone for a booty call. My booty is lonely Mercedes!" Mercedes grabbed Dee's cellphone from her hand. Dee pointed to her phone, "_You need to call Tyrone. CALL HIM. And tell him I said come on_." Mercedes laughed and then sighed.

"Dee, you're ridiculous and no I'm not calling a booty call for you. Especially not Tyrone. He was clapping all around church. And you know what _clap_ I'm talking about. I don't mean a round of applause, I mean a round of disease. He was doing more than praising on Sundays, I'll just say that much." She slipped the phone into her pocket. "Why don't you call Stevie and try to work things out. Figure out what went wrong kind of deal." Dee shook her head.

"I am not chasing after any man Merce, if he wants me he knows where to find me. And his ass can also repay the $45.76 that I paid for that damn Chinese food." She sat up in the bed and leaned her back against the headboard. Dee sighed and looked rejected. "I just don't get it."

"Has Stevie ever mistreated you or given you a reason to think he didn't want you? I mean aside from that night." Dee thought long and hard about it before shaking her head no. "Do you want to be with him? Can you see yourselves together in the long run?"

"I don't know. I mean if he doesn't want to have sex with me, then what am I supposed to do? I mean it was more than just the sex. If he wasn't ready he should have told me, I would have understood." Mercedes listened to Dee and nodded.

"Maybe he didn't know that. Maybe he was embarrassed and didn't think that he would be good enough. We both know that it's been a really long time for him." Mercedes understood the running away mentality. Although it was extremely dumb to do in the end, she always felt like she was doing it for a good reason. "If you really want him, fight for him. Find out what's up and go from there." She smiled. "I've seen the way that he smiles when he talks about you. He doesn't look like a man who would just leave for no reason." Dee bit her lip and bent one knee towards her chest and rested her arm on it.

"I...I don't know. I don't think I can face the rejection again." She said quietly.

"Maybe it wasn't rejection at all. Dee if you really want him, then you need to take him before you miss your chance and he's gone." Dee scoffed at her sister.

"Shouldn't you be taking your own advice Merce? You just left Sam high and dry in that coffee shop. You need to stop running away from all of the important things in your life or you will never ever get them back. Do you understand me?" Mercedes' hand went to her ring and she got off of the bed as if she had been slapped.

"He's better off without me while he's working on himself. I would just distract him from everything and that'd be selfish Dee. Do you think that I want to give him up? I love him, but he has his own priorities." She spun her ring around and shook her head.

"Why can't Sam work on himself while you're there? Did he say he couldn't?" Dee leaned forward and Mercedes sighed.

"I didn't really let him say much." She admitted. Dee smacked her forehead.

"Mercedes Jones, you need to stop running away and stop trying to make decisions for other people. I'm a grown ass woman and I don't want to chase after a grown ass man. He knows how I feel and when he's ready to come and talk to me, I'll be here. But until then I'm content being alone and if I meet someone else, then so be it." Mercedes chose not to argue with her sister anymore and with the way that the conversation was going it would only escalate and become worse. "Now I want you to go through my phone and delete Tyrone's number for me please." Mercedes laughed and looked at her smiling sister. "The only thing that will be clapping in my room is my ass."

"It's about damn time." She smiled and pulled her sister into a hug. At the end of the day they would always have each other and that was enough for Mercedes.

A/N SORRRRY THIS TOOK FOREVER! Nothing happened in it but at least the next chapter shall be good! Thanks for those who are sticking in there with me through all of this :D And thank you to JG and GT for their help with planning.


	8. Chapter 8

She ran through the hospitals hallway, towards room 201. She could hear the pounding of soft soled shoes running beside her and behind her as she rounded the corner in a panic. The loud beeping noise was a sound she had come to dread over the last week. It only signalled one thing and one thing only, death was near and it was up to her to keep him away for as long as she could. She skidded to a stop behind the doctor she had been tailing and watched as he bolted into the room to assess the situation of the flat-lining patient. As she stood there with the rest of her team, her mind wandered back to the first time she had ever heard that beeping sound.

_Mercedes stayed huddled against her mother who was silently sleeping in the hospital chair in the very white hospital room. Dee was curled up in their mother's lap sucking on her thumb, a bad habit she had developed since their father had gotten sick. Mercedes didn't think it was a big deal, but her mother always pulled the blistered thumb out of her sisters mouth when she fell asleep. Her hand reached out and ghosted over the smooth brown skin of her mother's shoulder as she watched them. She turned her head to the side and looked at her father who simply laid in the bed, unmoving. Her stomach clenched at the thought that he wouldn't be coming home with them like she had thought he would. He had been in the hospital for over a month now and wasn't showing any signs of getting better. Mercedes watched her father stir and slowly open one eye to peer at her. He attempted to smile, but the stroke had paralysed half of his face. So she smiled as widely as she could for the both of them. He beckoned to her with one hand to come beside the bed. Looking over her shoulder at her mother, she slid out of the chair and padded across the floor. She took his hand and pressed it against her cheek as he looked at her._

_"Hi daddy..." She said very quietly, so that she did not rouse the rest of her family._

_"Cattie..." He said just as quietly and continued to smile at her. Mercedes loved the nickname her father had given her. Cattie was short for Caterpillar, because when she was younger, about Dee's age, she would climb up her father's body, starting from his legs and up on his back like a caterpillar climbing a branch. He would always say, 'now would you look at my little caterpillar,' Mercedes having been so young struggled with the long word and her father had shortened it to Cattie for her. Her big brown eyes studied the man before her. Fear settled in her stomach as she wondered what would happen to their small family if they were to ever lose her father, the rock of the Jones family. She hummed a church song as she held the warm hand against her full cheek. She closed her eyes and willed the older, brave man to get stronger through her prayers and through her humming. "Cattie..." He said again, stronger than the time before. Her eyes flew open and she surveyed her father. "Sing baby." The sick man mumbled out as he took a deep breath. "Sing so the angels can hear Cattie." Mercedes stared at her father and bit her lip as she tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She slowly shook her head and felt the puffed short braids with the bow clips at the end sway back and forth on top of her head._

_"Daddy no..."She replied tearfully. The young girl had never denied her father a song in all the years she had been able to sing, it was as if she knew what it meant deep down in her soul to sing for him at that moment. _

_"Please." The words fell from his lips and landed in her heart like cold lead. She watched as a tear escaped his eye and was continuously followed by others. A part of her wondered why her face felt so hot and when she brushed her cheek she discovered that she had been crying the entire time. Sighing deeply, she racked her brain for a good church hymn, but nothing would come. She closed her eyes in frustration and the song that she needed to sing came to her. Opening her blurry sore eyes, she watched as her father looked at her as if he knew what she was about to sing. It was a song that her father played every year on the same day, but Mercedes never knew what it meant or why he played it, but she figured it had to have been his most favourite song in the world. He had played it enough for her to remember the lyrics as if she was reciting her own name. Taking a deep breath, Mercedes squeezed her father's hand as she held it and closed her eyes before she quietly, but powerfully sang Sam Cooke's, "A Change is gonna come." _

_I was born by the river in a little tent  
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will_

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die  
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will  
I go to the movie and I go downtown  
Somebody keep telling me don't hang around  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother  
And I say brother help me please  
But he winds up knocking me  
Back down on my knees

Ohhhhhhhhh...

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long  
But now I think I'm able to carry on  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

As she neared the last few verses, she opened her eyes to look at her father and saw him looking like his old self, younger, and healthier. She almost stopped singing from the shock, but knew she had to keep going for her dad. As she finished her tune, the loud beeping noise sounded, and she watched her mother run beside her and shake the man on the bed. Mercedes couldn't hear what her mother was screaming, she couldn't hear Dee crying in the background from the confusion, she couldn't hear what the doctors were saying as they ran into the room, and she couldn't even hear herself scream as they pulled her away from her father's lifeless body. All Mercedes could hear was the loud, beeping noise pounding inside of her head.

* * *

Mercedes struggled to unlock her door as she juggled the two bags of groceries in her arms. Sighing, she bent over and endured the stiff pain that shot up and down her spine. She put down the heavy bags and unlocked the door before picking them back up and trudging inside. To say that the short woman was exhausted was an understatement. She had been working overtime for the last two weeks as a nurse at St. Mary's hospital downtown and it had been stressful. Mercedes placed the bags on the kitchen counter and slowly put away the items as she thought about what she would need to do for work the next day. Hearing the familiar jingle, she looked down at her feet and saw her curious dog staring up at her while wagging his tail. She smiled and did her best to bend over to pick Chewie up. He wagged his tail even faster as she held him in her arms and she pressed her face against his warm side as she tried to fight back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. One of her patients whom she had quickly gotten close to, and who had even reminded her of a grandmother, had passed away that morning just before Mercedes had gotten there for her shift. She knew something had been wrong when she had walked in and saw her co-workers look at each other nervously, when they broke the news to her, her legs had gotten weak and she had to sit down. Letting the dog jump out of her arms to the ground, she rubbed her face and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Hold yourself together Cedes, you got this." She muttered quietly to herself as she sniffed and wiped her damp eyes. The vibration of her phone in her pocket startled her and she quickly pulled it out to see if it was the hospital calling. A smile tugged on her lips as she realised that it had been a text message from Dr. Mike Chang.

**_Ey bay bay, Ey bay bay, Ey bay bay, Ey bay bay, Ey bay bay how are you Miss. Jones? I hope St. Mary's is treating you alright? Jim is telling me some really good stuff about you and he is treating me to dinner when I come down there for referring you. Heard about your patient today, I'm sorry beautiful, you know I'd give you a hug if I was over there. Be strong, text me, call me, love me whenever you want. Catch you later. I still want your babies. You know they'll be beautiful like their mom._**

**_-Mike 'boombastic' Chang._**

_Did this fool really have to put ey bay bay five times?_ She couldn't hold in the laughter that bubbled from her lips as she re-read the message and rolled her eyes. Rubbing her forehead, she tried to remind herself to text him back later when she had settled in. She owed him for the job and could never repay him for her kindness. He had called her two days before she actually got the job and told her that there was a hospital in her area that was in need of nurses. He had sent a reference for her as well as a reference from the Rue family, all she needed to do was go do an interview the next morning. Mercedes had been stunned into silence, which slowly turned into loud grateful sobs that Mike had misunderstood as sadness. He told her that she didn't have to do it and through the heavy tears she told him that she was extremely grateful and owed him anything. The man had asked for Blasian children and she politely declined, so he resorted to a lunch date. Kicking off her shoes, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and heard her phone vibrating against the counter. She looked down to see that Dee was calling her, with a furrowed brow, she answered.

"Hey weirdo, what's up?" She asked with a slight bit of nervousness.

"I just called...to say...I love you. I just called... to say how much I care." Dee sang into the phone as Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Fool, what is this?" She laughed as she made her way to sit on her living room couch. "Because I know you didn't call just to destroy that poor man's song."

"Girl I made it better, don't make me bust out some Lionel Richie...hello? Is it me you're looking for?!" Mercedes shook her head and laughed at her sister's stupidity. "Well I did call to remind you that a very beautiful woman is getting much wiser and older this coming weekend and I want to have a par-wait for it- tay. Can you help me organize it?" Sighing, Mercedes closed her eyes as she felt Chewie hop on the couch to snuggle beside her. "Listen, I'm turning twenty five big butt...I'm close to becoming old like you, I'm halfway there! I need to celebrate or I will cry into a pillow of doom all day...and maybe hire a male stripper." Mercedes laughed, but thought about how much work a party would take to throw and she honestly didn't have the time or the energy with work being so demanding. "With a big hose...and I'm not talking about no fireman Merce. The hose is his ding a ling."

"Dee, I don't know. I'm busy with work, I'm on my feet all day..." She started saying and slowly spun her ring. "I don't think I can, why don't you ask Santana?"

"Because Santana is too busy trying to make children with that dancer guy I told you about, the one who hit on me way back when. Now he's hitting up on something else and smanging it like there's no tomorrow, girl I'm about to call him Flynt Flossy." Mercedes pictured a short skinny black man with an insane goatee and couldn't stop laughing. Chewie opened one sleepy eye and glared at her for a moment before closing it again. "I promise it won't be a lot of work. I just miss you and I want to see you. It's going to be a small thing." She really hadn't spoken to or seen her little sister since getting the job at the hospital, feeling guilty she nodded.

"Okay big head. Come over tomorrow after my shift and we'll talk it over." Mercedes had to pull the phone away from her ear as Dee squealed with delight into the phone.

"Awesome, okay can you call Stevie and ask him if we can use his house for the party. Okay thanks. Love you bye." Dee said quickly into the phone. Mercedes was tired but she wasn't stupid.

"Hold the back door, the front door, and the dog door. You want me to do what? Oh hell no Dee, I am not calling him and asking him anything. You call him." She knew that she sounded childish, but Mercedes wasn't about to do Dee's dirty work. If she wanted to use Stevie's house, then she would need to grow up and ask him like an adult.

"Fine. I'll ask Sam then." Mercedes had to refrain from smacking herself on the forehead. Too tired to argue with her sister, she simply let it go.

"Not what I was thinking, but okay fine, ask Sam. But you need to buck up and deal with him Dee, sooner or later and probably sooner than later, you're going to have to see him since you want his house." She paused for a moment and thought about Sam. "I don't have to see Sam or anything right?" Just being around him made her nervous and she was worried that something could happen, like a fight or some kind of falling out.

"No. But you need to buck up and deal with him Merce, sooner or later and probably sooner than later, you're going to see him since I want his brother's house." Unimpressed, Mercedes rolled her eyes as Dee laughed into the phone. "I don't know if you'll see him. Maybe he'll be stubborn like you and not want to come." Just thinking about having to deal with Sam was making her pressure rise and she was in dire need of rest. "Don't worry about it, I have it all under control. I'll see you tomorrow, alright? I love you, oh and call mom, she's worried about you." Mercedes nodded again even though her sister couldn't see her. She sighed and looked around the dark apartment.

"Okay, I love you too, and I will." She heard the click of the call ending and dropped the phone into her lap. Leaning her head back against the couch and slightly sliding down, she sat there lost in her thoughts until she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Dee was exhausted, but excited after a long gruelling week of planning her birthday party with Mercedes. After the long year she had, she felt that she deserved a day where she didn't have to think about school or work or anything else for that matter and where she could just have some fun. Her accident months before had made her realise that life was way too short to be unhappy and she didn't have time to waste her life away or be upset. When she had spoken to Sam, he had told her the same thing Mercedes had, to suck it up and ask Stevie herself if she could use his house. After letting loose a slew of profanities and then finally admitting that the older blonde man was right, she decided to speak to the man she couldn't stop thinking about. Instead of calling him, she simply walked into his clinic and sat down with him for a bit and discussed her plans. She was surprised that he was so willing to accommodate her in his home. After giving each other an awkward hug goodbye, she smiled warmly at him and left to go invite her friends now that she had a place for her party.

She pulled up to the familiar house and sat there staring at the door for a few moments before feeling a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around and stared at Artie and Santana, who in turn, were staring at her with the same confused expressions. "Baby girl are you okay? Do you need some liquor in your mouth right about now?" Artie asked her with worry in his voice. He held up a sprite bottle, with a curious brown liquid inside. Dee scrunched up her face as she eyed the concoction. Santana nodded beside him.

"Yea Dee, do you want a beer, some rum, some schnapps, Smirnoff, another cooler, some vodka?" She ran through the list of alcohol that they had just purchased from the beer store down the road. Dee laughed and shook her head. Even though they wouldn't admit it to anyone ever, especially Santana, she knew that her two friends were exclusive and had grown fond of each other even though their personalities were so different.

"I'm good. Just nervous, I want everything to be okay tonight." Mercedes placed her hand on Dee's arm, causing her sister to turn her head to the side and look at her. They exchanged a knowing look that required no dialogue. Slowly nodding, Dee exited the car, took a deep breath, grabbed some booze from the trunk, and walked over to the front door. She placed the heavy bottles down before adjusting her dress and knocking on the door. She heard the door open as she was bending over to pick up the drinks, when she saw Stevie, she almost dropped the bottles. Her eyes roamed over the grey long sleeved tight sweater that showed off his muscular frame, which he had paired with black jeans.

"Hey Stevie, you look nice." Mercedes smiled at the taller man and nudged her sister in the back to walk inside. Dee simply stood there gaping at him until the second nudge from her sister was less gentle and a lot more painful. "Dee, it's October and it is freaking cold, move your big butt inside!" Stevie raised a confused eyebrow at Dee and grabbed the alcohol from her arms. She gulped and scolded herself for being so obviously awkward around the blonde man. As she stared at him, her mind continued to wander back to the night when they had started to get intimate. For the last few weeks she had been trying to fill in the rest of the situation on how she had wished it had gone and it always ended very hot and heavy.

"Thanks Cedes." He grinned and gave the shorter woman a hug once Dee had finally moved inside and looked around. He turned to look at her and gave her a wide smile that made her want to melt. "Happy eighteenth birthday youngin." She rolled her eyes and laughed as he winked at her. "You make me feel old." He joked.

"That's because you _are_ old, and thank you. Just call me Benjamina Button." Stevie raised his eyebrows and then laughed loudly. Dee had missed the sound of that laugh and she was surprised when it had caused a fluttering in her stomach. She smiled at him as she watched a genuine smile form on his face.

"What you did there, I saw it." He smiled and looked over at Santana and Artie. "Nice to see you guys again...sober this time." He laughed and Santana shrugged.

"Hey, when a Lopez is in the building, you better expect some good drunk times." She smiled back at him and Artie moon walked in between the two individuals with a raised eyebrow on his face. Stevie took a step back from the shorter man and quickly glanced over at Dee in confusion. She racked her mind to figure out what the look meant and recalled that the last time that Stevie had met Artie, Artie was trying to hook up with Dee.

"This be my woman fool, back your man muscles up! On another note, it's good seeing you too, but I won't be sober for long. Be warned." Artie looked towards the kitchen and without another word headed off in that direction to put down the alcohol he was holding. Stevie slowly looked at Santana who was shaking her head.

"Somebody better have the police on speed dial because at some point tonight there will be a murder. I promise you." She followed her boyfriend into the kitchen and left the three adults standing by the door. Stevie looked at Mercedes and a small chuckle escaped his lips. Dee pinched the bridge of her nose and cleared her throat.

"I promise I'll pay for anything that could get broken by these dunderheads tonight. There should be about twenty more people showing up soon." She looked around the house and noticed that Stevie had pushed the furniture aside to make more room for the guests. A smile tugged on her lips as she looked at him somewhat shyly. "Thanks again for this, you really didn't have to say yes when I asked you." Stevie bit his lip and shrugged.

"I really wanted to make you happy Dee, especially on your big day. My birthday's coming up too so I expect a nice gift." He laughed and looked over at Mercedes who was grimacing as her back was hurting from holding the heavy liquor for so long. "Are you okay Cedes? We can put the booze down in the kitchen if it's getting too heavy." Mercedes nodded quickly and headed off after passing a silent look with her sister. Stevie quickly followed suit and Dee stayed in the living room to wait for the rest of her party guests to arrive. She heard the knock on the door and excitedly pulled it open to see Sam and Veronica with gifts.

"Those better be some Gucci or Chanel products!" She laughed and moved back for her friends to come inside, Sam rolled his eyes and gave her a hug and Veronica kissed her on the cheek. More people were waving to her as they walked up the sidewalk to the house.

"They're Gucchanel, we bought them from a man who had one eye and a mouse named Petey, on the side of the road as we drove here. He even supplied the gift wrapping too, the man was an angel." Sam joked and poked Dee in the side. "Happy birthday little one, soon you'll be as old and amazing as me." He paused for a moment and looked at Veronica. "Fuck, we're going to be thirty two soon." His eyes widened and a disgusted expression contorted on his face. Veronica smacked his arm as she walked into the living room to give Dee and her other guests who had walked inside some space.

"Speak for yourself, I just turned twenty eight. When I turned thirty I told myself that I was going to start ageing backwards to keep myself youthful." Sam squinted one eye at her and then laughed.

"You're going to be one weird looking six year old." He shook his head, put down the gifts in a corner, and took off his coat. He helped Veronica with hers and looked around for his brother. Dee brought her friends over to meet the pair and he noticed that Veronica's 'on the prowl' expression came on when she was introduced to a very tall attractive black man. Sam looked at Dee who looked back at him and they smiled at one another before he headed off to look for Stevie. Coming out of the kitchen at the same time as he was passing by was Mercedes who was looking at some type of takeout food menu.

"Dee, should we order some pizza or something?" She asked while still reading the menu.

"I for one love pizza, so yes." Sam smiled as he looked down at the woman whose voice immediately tugged on his heart. Mercedes looked up at him in shock and then immediately looked away. "Hey Mercy." He said almost quietly as he studied her and her nervous movements. She was wearing a simple black dress and her hair was piled on top of her head in a bun. "You look very nice." She looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks Sam. You do too." Her hand touched her ring, but she didn't spin it. She just kept it there for comfort. Her eyes roamed over his body and she couldn't help but notice how amazing his body looked in his black v neck that he had paired with dark blue jeans. "Hot." She mumbled out loud by accident and then her eyes widened in shock at her own boldness. "I mean, we should play Nelly's –Hot in here...yea, that's what I meant. Dee we need music!" She yelled out as she moved away from him. Sam reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her back in front of him.

"Stop. Just stop running away from me." He almost growled. "Why can't you just fucking talk to me for once? Do I scare you that much?" Mercedes looked down in shame and squeezed the menu in her hand, when she looked up into his face she could see the pain in his very green eyes. The electricity that she felt from their touching hands was intense and went all through her body.

"Yea, you do." She answered honestly and almost inaudibly, before Stevie walked up behind them.

"Someone say pizza? Because I'm so hungry I can eat a house. I know its horse, but I'm seriously that hungry. Well hey there old man." He smiled and clapped his brother on the back and Sam quickly let go of Mercedes hand.

"We need to talk and if I have to tie you up to do it, so be it." Sam whispered close to her ear before smiling back at his brother who was now giving the two a confused expression. The older Evans brother turned Stevie around and they walked into the kitchen to speak. Dee stood by the door and let more people into the house when she turned to the side and noticed her sister standing by the kitchen alone and stunned. She gave some people a few hugs and excused herself to walk over to Mercedes. Her older sister gave her a sad grin and Dee immediately knew that something was up.

"Sam?" Was all she needed to say and Mercedes nodded her head. Dee sighed and pulled her sister into the spare room down the hall. She made a mental note to remind him to lock it just so people didn't get rowdy in there after drinking. Mercedes sat down on the bed and Dee stayed standing and looked down at her older sister. "Listen. Tonight is going to be fun and you're going to loosen up and get drunk. I am tired of this drama business and like hell will you two bring that shit up in my party." She placed her hands on Mercedes' shoulders. "I love you both, Lord knows I do, but I will whoop your asses with a very thin belt like mom used to have way back when, if you two cause any crying or fighting here. You understand?" Mercedes sighed and then nodded. "Good. Now let's put some music on and pop it like it's bubble wrap." The older Jones burst out laughing and pulled her sister into a tight hug.

"Alright, let's do this shit." Dee smiled and the two sisters walked out to enjoy the party. By the middle of the night, Mercedes had three beers and three coolers in her system and was sipping on a rum and coke in the corner of the room. To say that she was feeling the booze was an understatement. The short woman was bursting out into Bob Marley songs, while Beyonce was singing ring the alarm through the speakers. Dee kept an eye on her sister and had followed her lead by downing at least eight shots since the party started. Her other eye was focused on Stevie who was speaking to one of her former classmates in a corner.

"TURN THE LIGHTS DOWNNNN LOW!" Mercedes started belting out before laughing to herself. Sam watched her from across the room and walked over to see if she was okay. "AND A PULL YOUR WINDOW CURTAINS! Where the hell is Lauryn Hill?" She asked him when he approached her. "Saying ooooo, I love you, I love you, I love you, and I want you to know right now. Oooo I love you, and I want you to know right now, that IIIIIII that IIIIIIII. I want to give you some love, I want to give you some good good loving oh I oh I oh IIIII, I want to give you some good good loving." Mercedes serenaded him and pulled him close to her. Sam tried his best not to laugh at how cute she was when intoxicated. "I love you Sam, I love you so much. I've always loved you!" She said loudly and Sam's eyebrows rose as he looked around to see if anyone had heard her.

"Hold that thought." He grabbed her hand and dragged her into the guest room. Sam took her drink and put it on the table before locking the door behind him and sitting her down on the bed. "Okay Mercy, you're pretty drunk right now and I think you should go to sleep." Mercedes scowled at him.

"NO! I love you and I hated that I loved you, I hated that you were a huge jerk, but you were an amazing jerk, you were MY jerk and I loved you and I still love you and I run all the fucking time Sam. Do you know how...how exhausting it is too run all the damn time, away from someone you love so much? It's horrible!" She rambled on as she grabbed on to his arms and pulled him beside her. "You're so amazing and your jokes suck ass, like they're horrible, but you make me laugh, you make me smile. I wanted you to do better in your life you know? Like I fucked so much up for you I...I didn't want..." She hiccupped. "I didn't want to mess you up or ruin everything you know?" She leaned against his body and Sam wrapped his arm around her, holding her tight against him as he closed his eyes and listened to her bare her soul to him. "I want you in my life so bad and I don't even know how to fucking ask you...and sex with you would be so amazing! It would be some raunchy dirty people sex, you know." Sam laughed and shook his head before tilting her head up and lightly kissing her into silence.

"I know you're wasted, but I love you too Mercedes Jones. Don't get me wrong, you're fucking cray cray, but I love you." She drunkenly looked up into his eyes and smiled. Sam shook his head and laughed at her. He lowered his head again and kissed her more deeply as she moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled back from her and kissed her nose. "Yea, we're going to have to talk about all of this when you're sober."

"Stop talking, make love to my mouth." She groaned. Sam laughed and gently pushed her down on the bed, she scooted towards the headboard and he crawled on top of her. He didn't have any intention of sleeping with her, especially while she was in that state, but he couldn't get enough of her sweet tasting lips. His lips travelled down her jaw line and down to her neck when he heard it. Looking up he saw the beautiful woman passed out and snoring beneath him. Sam sighed and leaned his head against her bosom before moving off of her and rolling beside her. He tried closing her mouth to quiet the snoring, but it would fall open again and the snores would continue. Trying not to laugh too loudly, he rolled her body so that she was facing him and he held her against his chest. Shaking his head at the situation, Sam reached into his pocket and texted Veronica that he was with Mercedes so that she wouldn't worry about his whereabouts. Veronica texted back about climbing some tree and he figured that she was talking about the man she had met earlier that night. Rolling his eyes, he slipped his phone back inside his pocket, and fell asleep beside Mercedes.

* * *

Dee watched as Stevie downed four shots in succession at the coaxing of the blonde woman who he had been speaking to all night. Dee knew that the woman had a name, but she settled on calling her 'that musty ass, coochie smelling like dorritos, blonde clip on extensions wearing hoe' for the night. Someone had made her a pornstar and she was sipping it as she eyed the two, she could tell that Stevie was slightly drunk. He was laughing like a Hyena at everything the woman beside him was saying and he had leaned in close to hear her over the loud music. Something in Dee's stomach clenched as she watched them get so intimate. The woman attempted to kiss Stevie on the lips when he immediately moved back and shook his head. He looked over at Dee and pointed at her as he said something to the woman; she looked over at Dee too and scowled before nodding and walking away. Dee stood there in confusion as Stevie stared after her with an apologetic look on her face. She turned around and walked out of the kitchen into the loud living room where everyone was having a good time and dancing. _It's my birthday and I'm going to have my cake and eat the hell out of it too._ She walked back towards the bedrooms and slipped inside Stevie's room. Dee patted herself on the back for forgetting to tell him to lock it. She drunkenly threw off her clothes and crawled underneath the cold sheets on his bed. Grabbing her cell phone she texted him that she needed to talk to him in his bedroom and then turned off the lights. She saw the door open and the bright light shone in behind him before he quickly closed it and turned on the lights.

"Dee...what?...what are you doing?" He asked in surprise as she watched his eyes rake over her somewhat covered body.

"Listen here you asshole, you blue vaginaed me last time we were together and you owe me some mother fucking birthday sex. You got it?" She hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt, she didn't know what she would do if he turned her down again. Stevie turned around and her heart clenched at the thought that he was leaving, but he simply locked the door before smiling at her and pulling off his sweater to show off his built frame.

"Yea, I got it." He licked his lips and turned on the lamp beside his bed before turning off the brighter lights in the room. He slowly unbuckled his belt and zipped down his pants to show her his black Calvin Klein boxers that were housing a very obvious large boner. He pulled back the sheets, exposing her naked body to the cold air, which caused her nipples to harden. He leaned over and kissed her gently, before running his tongue along the seam of her plump lips as a silent way of asking her to open her mouth. Dee quickly complied and his tongue slipped into her mouth and slid over her own wet tongue. Her hand reached out and stroked him through the thin material of his boxers, causing him to moan against her lips. Stevie kissed down her chin as she continued to touch him and made his way to a round perky nipple which he immediately pulled into his mouth and swirled his tongue around as he rolled the other one between his fingers. Her back arched up, pushing her breasts against his face. He looked up at her and grinned before crawling on to the bed and in between her legs. He nipped the sides of her large breasts as his hand rubbed down her thick smooth thigh and cupped her heat. She could feel a cool finger rub up and down her wet lips as he tentatively explored her. He sucked a nipple into his mouth again as he circled a finger against her clit, causing her to whimper.

"You're so wet." He exclaimed in awe as he touched her. He brought the finger to his mouth and sucked on it. "You taste so sweet." He said in a low seductive voice. He slid between her legs and kissed the inside of both of her thighs causing her to giggle. He smiled at her and pushed her thighs back as he slowly licked up and down her juicy folds. Dee gasped at the amazing feeling of the hot tongue exploring deep into her body. He sucked on one of the folds as he looked at her with his clear blue eyes. Her fingers tangled into his long blonde hair as she pushed his head against her to lick her more. After much teasing, his tongue found her clit and circled it before sucking it into his mouth and flicking it repeatedly with his tongue. She spread her legs wider so that he would have more access. He slipped two fingers inside her and curled them as he pumped them inside of the wet heat. Stevie began to hum against the slick clit as he enjoyed the taste of her against his tongue. Dee began to tug on her nipples and roll them in between her fingers as she watched him expertly work her lower body. She wanted to ride his face and she was about to get what she wanted. She pulled his head up by his hair and leaned forward to kiss him deeply and taste herself on his mouth.

"You're right, I do taste fucking amazing." She sucked on his bottom lip before flipping him on to his back. He looked at her in surprise, before she crawled up his body and hovered over his mouth. He placed his hands on her hips before bringing her down against his eager mouth. The plump lips sucked quickly on her hardened clit as she swirled her hips around. He held her down firmly and slipped his thick tongue inside of her wet pussy, managing to tongue fuck her as she fought to move her body, but he wouldn't let her budge as she felt her climax build up as he continued to eat her out. She moaned loudly as she held the headboard tightly and let herself go hard and fast against his mouth. His tongue licked up her wetness slowly as she shook above him."Stevie! Fuck!" She moaned out as she moved down his body. He smiled and wiped his mouth with his hand before kissing her.

"Yea, we can do that too." He winked at her and she bit his lip before sliding between his legs and pulling his long thick cock out of his boxers. She pulled them all the way off and threw them on to the floor before swirling her tongue around the reddened thick head. Stevie rubbed his thumb against her cheek and she looked up to see him shaking his head. "It's your birthday, we can do that another time." He pulled her on top of him. "Reach into that drawer and hand me a condom please." She smiled and reached over as he placed a firm smack on her thick ass. She ripped the package open with her teeth and pulled out the rubber circle, before firmly holding his member and rolling the condom on to his arousal. She leaned over and kissed him deeply for a few moments as she stroked him, before climbing off of him and turning around on all fours. Stevie grabbed her waist and pulled her backwards towards him so that her ass was right against his body. He leaned over and kissed both cheeks before sliding his dick along her wet folds. She could feel him hesitate and looked back to see a worried look on his face.

"You will never disappoint me. Ever." She said as she stared at him. He looked into her eyes for a few moments before kissing her shoulder and slipped his thickness inside of her. Dee let out a deep moan as he filled her all the way up. Stevie stayed like that for a few seconds as he told himself to calm down. He hadn't had sex in a long time and he didn't want to ruin it by cumming too soon. He slowly pulled out of her halfway before pushing all the way back in, he continued at that pace until Dee pushed back against him quickly. He reached around her and rubbed her clit with his thumb as he continued to push into her body quickly. She clenched around him and drove him crazy as he continued to move inside of her. "Yes baby, oh fuck yes." She chanted out as he continued to drive into her. He pulled out of her and flipped her on her back before he pushed back into her again, he wanted to see her face as they did this. Her eyes rolled back in her head from the immense pleasure he was giving her. She would never understand why he might have been scared to do this with her, he was amazing at what he was doing. Her body felt like it was on fire as she played with her nipples and watched as her pussy swallowed him up every time he filled her up. The building tension in her lower body snapped like a rubber band as her second orgasm hit her. He continued to pump into her quickly as he felt her body clench and heard her scream out in ecstasy, his own orgasm didn't come long after and he paused as he filled up the condom. Panting he leaned on top of her, while he tiredly pulled himself out.

"Happy...birthday." He breathed out against her neck and she smiled. He kissed her lightly before climbing off of her and throwing the condom away. She climbed into the bed under the sheets and heard her phone ring. Stevie handed it to her and she spoke to Santana.

"Girl where are you?" She could hear the panic in her friends voice.

"Uh, I'm just you know, hanging with Stevie." Stevie's eyebrows rose before he slipped into bed beside her and kissed her breasts as she spoke. "We're just talking and FUCK ...stuff." She had yelped because he had bit her. She scowled at him and he tried not to laugh.

"Uh huh, alright let me clear the party out for you then." Santana laughed on the other side of the phone. "Happy birthday chick."

"Thanks San." Dee heard the click on the phone and was about to scold Stevie when she heard Santana's loud voice ring out from the living room.

"THE BIRTHDAY GIRL IS GETTING IT IN, SO YA'LL NEED TO LEAVE. YOU DON'T GOTTA GO HOME, BUT YOU NEEDS TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! EY! EY! THAT IS NOT YOUR LAMP HOE, THIS AIN'T CHRISTMAS, YOU DON'T GET NO GIFTS!" Dee covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. Stevie pulled her hands down and kissed her. She touched his face and smiled.

"Best birthday gift...ever." She chuckled as he kissed her again.

"Hell, I can't wait to see what you get me for mine then." He laughed and pulled her close against him. "I need to explain some things to you." Dee pressed her finger against his lips and he kissed it.

"Good, tomorrow." She smiled and he nodded, before she snuggled against his sticky chest and fell asleep.

A/N: Thanks to my best friend JG for all of her help planning this story. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I would LOVE FEEDBACK! If you have time that is, message me or review, puhleese! (If you can't no worries)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Pleasssssssse review if you have the time and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to JG for everything and for all of your help, I could never have done this without you. Thank you to my readers who have stuck by me even though I suck at updating, thank you for sticking around.

Mercedes cuddled up closer to the warm thing against her back. In the depths of her mind she wondered when Chewie had gotten so big and she tried to remind herself to cut down on his doggie food later on in the week. But as she thought quietly, a strong muscular arm wrapped around her waist and moved her body back against a firm chest. Her dark brown eyes flew open in shock and her body tensed up in fear as she tried to figure out the best way to knee whoever was behind her, preferably in the groin. The pounding headache throbbing behind her eyes and the bright light shining in through the window behind the headboard was slightly throwing her off. _When in the hell did I get a window behind my bed?...well shit this isn't even my bed. Why's my head hurting? Sweet Jesus did I do some drugs? Am I naked? No...no I have clothes on. Who's behind me?...whoever it is smells good...but that's beside the point, where the hell am I? Oh my God am I dead? IS THIS LIKE THE LOVELY BONES!?...what was that sound? Oh hellll no, that better not have been a fart. This nasty ass...oh it was the sound of the mattress, my bad...let me just look down at this arm...it's a white person...I'm pretty sure it's a man's arm, but you never know, I've seen some hairy ass women._

"Mercy, I know you're awake." A deep voice whispered behind her head. _Sam?_ She rolled over to come face to face with a sleepy Sam Evans. She stared into his tired green eyes in shock. _I hope to God my breath doesn't smell, this is hella awkward._ "Do you remember anything from last night?" He asked her quietly as she continued to silently stare at him. She gave a slight shake of the head and he sighed. _Well at least his breath doesn't stink._ He moved back from her and sat up against the headboard. Mercedes groaned and did the same, but immediately closed her eyes to avoid the feeling of nausea. She placed a hand to her head and Sam slowly turned her face towards his and placed a light kiss to her lips. "You are feeling a bitch of hangover right now I bet. Do you want some gingerale or something?" She shook her head no and looked at him. Her eyes wandered over the slight blonde stubble that covered the lower half of his face and her eyes zeroed in on his pink plump lips. It took her a moment to actually register that he had just kissed her and a very large part of her wondered about what had happened the night before. Her eyes drifted back to the green orbs that were wandering over her face, but his were full of worry. "Well you got super drunk last night and then you morphed into Lauryn Hill for a second, said some things, but we'll get back to that and then passed out cold."

Mercedes groaned again and covered her face with her hands as bits and pieces from the night before slowly entered her mind. "What did I say exactly?" Her voice croaked out. She squinted one eye at him and braced herself for what she already knew he was going to say. Sam tried to hide the grin that was playing on his lips and he cleared his throat before starting to speak.

"You told me that you love me and that you want me in your life." He smiled and her eyes drifted to the ground as she begged for a hole to appear so that she could crawl into it and die. "Mercy look at me." She sighed and brought her attention back to his face. "Talk to me now that you're sober, tell me how you feel because I've waited a fucking long ass time to hear it." She licked her dry lips and shifted her body on the bed.

"I do love you...I love you a lot and I want to be in your life...but..." She bit her lip, "I don't want to be the reason you relapse or something." Sam nodded slowly and then leaned forward to bring their lips together in a soft chaste kiss.

"I love you and you're insane and I get that you were trying to help me, but if you want to really help me, I need you to be there for me. Not running from me alright? I'm not freaking Wile E Coyote and you're not some damn large blue bird going beep beep."

"Roadrunner" She answered and slightly laughed.

"Skyrunner, bridgerunner, grassrunner, whoever the hell he is, you're not him and I need you to stop running from me." He held her hand and brought it to his mouth. "I want you with me, I want you around because you make me want to be better, and I know that sounds corny as hell, but I don't care you can even call me peaches and cream if you want, because corny I will stay." Mercedes laughed and nodded, but she immediately cringed as the nausea overwhelmed her once again. "Let's talk about this later at lunch, because right now you're looking like you might hurl at any second." She opened her mouth to answer when the bedroom door flew open and in ran Stevie naked as the day he was born with a blanket wrapped around his waist. He stared awkwardly at the couple who stared back at him in awe.

"Sorry...I was just looking for condoms." He stared at them in embarrassment and adjusted the blanket that hung from his waist. "Um...but you know what...never mind...there's some cling wrap in the kitchen...so I'm just going to...yea...okay, nice talking to you guys." He cleared his throat and walked backwards out of the room before closing the door.

"Oh he _better_ be having sex with my sister." She blurted out and folded her arms over her chest in annoyance at the thought that Stevie was sleeping with another woman who might not have been Dee.

"Okay maybe it's the hangover, or maybe you're still drunk, but that sounded really weird and creepy. But that's just my opinion...and probably anyone else's had they heard it." He laughed and she rolled her eyes before playfully smacking his arm and shyly looking away from him. "So...lunch with me? Today? You're going to show up."

"I promise I'll be there to talk." She smiled and then looked around the bedroom. "Thanks for staying with me..." Sam smiled and shrugged. "No I mean it, you could have left and gone home at any point."

Sam ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Why would I go home when the person I wanted to be close to was sleeping here?" She smiled and reached out to touch his face. "I always want to be close to my little brother." Mercedes scowled and Sam let out a loud laugh as she reached over to pinch him. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He rubbed his pinched side and then yawned. Sliding down on to his back, he opened his arms to her. "Here, just close your eyes and lie on me, it might take some of the nausea away." Mercedes smiled and let herself be enveloped into his arms. She was still confused about what all of this would mean in the end. But for the time being she wouldn't stress over it and she let herself drift off into another deep sleep.

* * *

Mercedes nervously walked into the crowded cafe and looked around for the blonde green eyed man who had requested her to meet him there at two o'clock sharp that afternoon. She didn't see him anywhere but spotted an empty table in the far corner of the room and quickly hustled over before anyone else saw it as well. Sitting down hesitantly, she continued to survey the crowd when she spotted him rushing in through the door with roses in his hand. Her eyes widened as she stared at him and her breath hitched when his gaze fell on her face and he smiled. He quickly walked over and handed her the bouquet before sitting down across from her and removing his scarf. "Sam...I..." She began in shock and Sam laughed and shook his head.

He put his hand up and his green eyes bore into hers. "Okay before you say anything, I have some stuff that I want to get off of my chest." He rubbed his large hands together and licked his lips. "I'm not perfect, never have been, never will be. But I've come a long way from where I used to be, Emma said that I'm making some serious progress, it's slow, but it's happening." Mercedes laid the bouquet down on the table as she listened and his eyes followed the motion before he continued. "I'm still sarcastic and I can still be an ass, but that's just who I am and I like it so I'm keeping it that way. But even with the amount of progress I've made, I can honestly do a lot better if I had you by my side, in my life, on the regular." Mercedes looked down for a moment and then met his gaze once again. "Are you going to run? Because I have some handcuffs in my glove compartment if we need them...don't ask how they got there, but if I need them I know where to get them." The shorter woman laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to run, I was just thinking." She bit her lip and slowly nodded as his words rolled around in her mind. "I'm honestly tired of running away from you, I'm tired of running away from everything. I really don't even know when that habit started but I want to break out of it as soon as I can." She sighed. "I have my own demons that I need to work on too, it's not just you, and we both know that I'm far from perfect." Sam quickly nodded. "I just didn't want to mess up any progress that you were making in your life, I mean look at you..." She waved her hand at him. "You were freaking Professor X from hell and now you're bringing me flowers and being extremely sweet and it's like a complete turnaround, I don't want to be the reason for messing that all up."

Sam shook his head. "Mercy, I want to be a better person for myself, but as much as I want that and as corny as this sounds, I want to be a better person for you too. You only focus on the negative that could happen, but why don't you look at the fact that being together can help me more than it could ever hurt me." He reached out and took her hand into his own and slowly rubbed his thumb over the smooth brown skin. "Look...this is fucking hard for me." He stared at their joined hands. "The only person I ever needed to love was my brother, he was the only person I needed to be responsible for and when I started dating women, it was easier to give no fucks about them...absolutely none." He shook his head. "Then I met Quinn and I realised that she was using me just as much as I was using her and at the beginning I was fine with that, it was like an unspoken agreement between us...but I wanted her to love me, I wanted to feel like someone didn't just _need_ me to be there for them, but that they wanted to be there for me...and she made it clear that that wasn't happening." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he recalled the night of his accident. "I'm not good with this, but I'm getting better and I don't want to do this alone, I want to get better with you, but listen..." He looked up and stared into her eyes. "You need to be ready for this, you need to be willing to try like hell to be here with me, and you gotta stop running away, because I guarantee you that the next time you do it...I'm not coming after you. I owe it to myself to do better and I need people in my life who are going to support me, not bring me down."

Mercedes took a deep breath as his words hit her. "Are you ready to be my ride or die chick? I heard that in a rap song once and it sounded cool, and the word die is in there so it sounds like some serious shit. Not sure what you'd be riding exactly, but I have a car so I guess that could be it." Mercedes laughed and cocked her head to the side.

"Yea...I'm ready to stop running and If you really want me and you really want to work on this, then yea, I'll be your ride and die chick you jackass." Sam beamed widely at her. "But you need to be here to help me too, it's a two way street right...so yea. But I'm ready for this and if you want me to come to your therapy sessions with you then I'll be there." She raised their joined hands and kissed his finger tips. "I'm proud of you, I really am." He grinned and ducked his head. This was an entirely new experience for him and as much as he hated being vulnerable, he knew that it was the only way that he could finally make the next step in his progress. He had spent most of his life being closed off to people and he was sure it would continue that way for some time, but at least he had someone other than Stevie that he could truly open up to.

"Thank God, now I can stop listening to Adele songs on repeat. They were starting to depress me a little." He chuckled and let go of their hands as Mercedes raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry...did you just say Adele?" She tried to hide her laughter by biting her lip.

"Yea, Rachel kept playing Rolling in the Deep and it got stuck in my head and it fit our situation and everything, so yea." Mercedes couldn't stop the snort that escaped her nose as she imagined him listening to the love songs. "What, you don't believe me?...you don't believe that I would listen to soulful miss Adele...Mercedes men can listen to Adele..."She burst out into loud laughter and was unsure of why she found it so funny. "You know what...there's a fire starting in my heart...reaching a fever pitch..."

"Sam no please no I believe you!"

"The scars of your love, remind me of us..." He belted out and Mercedes covered her face as the other customers turned to stare at the couple. "WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL! MERCEEEEEEEEDES!" She jumped up out of her seat and placed her hand over his mouth. He stopped singing, but she could still see the mischief twinkling in his eyes. She slowly removed her hand from the pink lips. "You had my balls inside of your handddd" She clapped her hand over his mouth again and he pulled her down into his lap which caused her to laugh. They were acting like teenagers and she loved it, she missed feeling like that with someone. "Go on a date with me next weekend." He smiled up at her as he held her securely around her waist.

"I don't know...you're singing is kind of terrible." She laughed and Sam rolled his eyes. "Alright alright, where?"

"My place, I'll cook, I'm a great cook." His eye twitched and Mercedes raised an eyebrow. "Okay...I'm decent enough." He laughed and she smiled before nodding.

"Uh huh, how about I help you? I'm sure you miss my cooking by now." Sam grinned.

"Actually I do and it sounds like a date." He wanted to do this right, he wanted to fix the drama that had been weighing on them for months. He tilted his head up and gently kissed her full lips. Mercedes slightly blushed before standing up and moving back to her own seat. She brought the roses to her nose and sniffed. This was about to be a fresh start for the both of them.

* * *

Sam sat on the ground, legs outstretched, fingering the pages of his cd binder as he looked for some good music to play. Mercedes sat between his legs, her back against his firm chest, as she sipped wine from the glass that she held in her hand. "How about some country, I have Billy Ray in here." She rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at him. "Mercy don't give me that look, Achy Breaky Heart was a damn classic back in the day." He challenged her before laughing and continued to sift through his collection. "How about Stevie Wonder?" He thought out loud.

"If you play Jungle Fever again, I will personally smack you in the eye." She said lazily as the wine slowly got to her. She leaned forward and placed the glass on the table. This was their tenth date and they were celebrating his successful therapy session that he had earlier that evening. Sam laughed and kissed the side of her head before closing the binder and wrapping his arms around her waist. He buried his face against the side of her neck and simply breathed in the sweet smell of her skin. Chills ran down her spine as she felt his warm breath tickle her sensitive skin. They had decided on their first date that they would take things slow and focus on building their trust and their relationship before they would jump into each other's beds. It had been a struggle for the couple, but they had managed to keep things chaste for the time being, but there was only so much that they could take. She let her head fall back as he placed soft warm kisses along her neck and let his hands slowly roam over her body. "Sam..." She said faintly as she could feel herself get wet as he touched her.

"Mmm?" He mumbled as he nipped at her flesh and moved the top of her shirt aside as he kissed her bare shoulder.

"Don't start something you can't finish." She said breathily as his cool hands slipped under the bottom of her shirt and caressed her soft skin under the material of her top. She pulled her legs towards her chest and squeezed them shut as she tried to get her mind off of the hands touching her.

"Who says I won't finish?" He said against her ear before playfully biting it. She laughed and covered her ear and moved her head away from his mouth. He looked over at her and smiled mischievously.

"Is that so Mr. Evans?" She giggled as his eyes roamed over her body hungrily. She was used to them teasing and flirting around, but she could tell that tonight was a lot different. The sexual energy in the room was a lot more charged than it normally was and she felt excited and nervous all at the same time.

"Mhm, it is so Ms. Jones." He pushed himself up from behind her and reached down to pull her up. "Can you do me a favour? Can you just clean up down here and then come upstairs in about ten minutes with a single glass of wine?" She didn't know what he had planned, but she quickly nodded before he leaned over to kiss her deeply. He winked at her before walking up the stairs and she noticed that he rubbed his bad leg as he moved. The cold weather sometimes bugged it, but it was never anything severe. Mercedes quickly cleaned up the living room, pushed the couch back into place, and poured a glass of wine before she headed up the stairs. The bedroom was dark but she could see a light on in the bathroom. She blindly reached out as she made her way across the room and pushed open the door to see Sam lighting a candle that was on the counter top. Her eyes roamed around the bathroom and spotted five other lit candles strategically placed on different surfaces. The bathtub was filled with warm water with soap bubbles covering the surface. Her jaw dropped as she took in the sight.

Sam smiled and took the glass of wine from her and placed it on the counter before reaching around her and closing the door behind her to block out the cold. He placed his hands on her hips and leaned in to kiss her deeply, letting their tongues roll over each other as his hands lowered and unbuttoned the dress pants that she was wearing. He broke apart from their kiss and slowly pulled the fabric down over her thick thighs that he gently placed kisses along as he pulled the pants off of her feet and got to his knees. He kissed his way back up her thighs and paused when he reached her mound. His fingers hooked around the sides of her thong and pulled the thin fabric down to her feet before she stepped out of them and tossed them aside. Sam hooked her leg over his shoulder and slowly spread her juicy lips apart before he licked up and down her wet folds. Circling her clit with the tip of his tongue and gently sucking on the bundle of nerves as he held her firmly against him. Her head flung back and a loud moan escaped her lips as her body shook from the intimate touch. He continued to explore her pussy as her hand snaked into his blonde hair and tightly tugged on the locks. "Sam...baby...yes." She bit her lip and moved her hips against his hungry tongue.

He suddenly pulled back and stood back up to his feet much to her disappointment. He grinned and helped her pull off her shirt which he tossed on to the pile of the rest of her clothes and then unclasped her bra. She let out a relaxed sigh before she felt his hot mouth sucking on her dark nipple as his hand stayed firmly in the middle of her back as he switched to her other perked up peak. She could feel herself getting extremely wet and wasn't sure how much longer she could deal with the teasing. "Sam..." She whined and he smiled before placing a light kiss to her lips. He moved back and led her to the tub, which she comfortably sat down in. The water was slightly hot, but it helped soothe out her achy joints that she had acquired through the stress of her job. He knelt beside the tub and grabbed a washcloth that he rubbed across her shoulders and chest as he kissed her lips. Sam dipped the cloth into the water and Mercedes lifted her leg which he promptly ran the warm rag down and over the rest of her body. She moaned at the attention he was giving her before staring into his eyes and licking her lips. He quickly stood up and grabbed a towel for her before she got out of the water and stepped on to the mat. She didn't even have time to feel cold before he was rubbing the soft towel over her body and drying any areas that were soapy or wet. He let the towel move up and down her legs before he stood up to his full height and gently massaged her breasts with his hand. She moaned with pleasure as his thumb rubbed over the dark circles and he kissed them both quickly before letting the towel drop to the ground.

He reached down and scooped her naked body up into his arms and carried her into the dark bedroom before laying her down on the bed. He turned on the lamp on the side table before he quickly pulled off his clothes and tossed them to the ground. She scooted beneath the blankets and he moved on top of her and between her legs. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She nodded and pulled him down into a deep kiss before he broke it apart to breathe and reached into his drawer for a condom. He tore the foil with his teeth and rolled the condom on himself before bending her legs back and slowly pushed inside of her heat. A hiss escaped his lips at the tightness surrounding him and Mercedes bit her lip as she let her body adjust to his thick, long, size. His hands found the top of the headboard and he held it firmly as he slowly pushed in and out of her, enjoying the feel of her surrounding him. He lowered his head and sucked on her bottom lip as they moved against each other on the mattress. Her hands roamed over his back, lightly scratching him, as she enjoyed the feelings he had awoken in her body.

"I love you..." She whispered as his pace began to increase. He looked down at her and kissed her passionately as he lost control of his body, getting lost in the feel of her.

"I...love you ...too...shit...shit.."He exclaimed as he quickly came inside of her. He panted and looked down at her apologetically. "I'm sorry." She brought her finger to his lips and shook her head.

"Don't apologise, just make up for it over and over again tonight." She smiled and kissed him slowly. He grinned against her lips and nodded before pulling out. He cleaned himself up and disposed of the condom before spreading her legs wide apart and slipping three long fingers inside her wetness. She moaned as he bent the fingers and pumped them inside of her as his thumb rubbed against her clit. He lowered his mouth and sucked hard on the sensitive skin of her neck. Her back arched up into the feeling as his pace increased between her legs and his sucking and licking intensified. The tension in her lower body finally snapped and she came on the eager hand fingering her. Her body shook as the waves hit her and she licked her lips as she came down from the high. Sam grinned and kissed her one last time before sucking on the fingers that had been inside of her. She covered her face in embarrassment and he removed her hands and licked across her lips.

"You are so fucking sexy, it's ridiculous" He said against her lips before settling into bed beside her. A yawn escaped his lips and he shook his head. "Man, I'm getting old."

"I know." She laughed and he gently poked her side. "I mean...what? You? No never." He grinned and pulled her tightly against him.

"You're lucky that I love you or we'd have some problems here Ms. Jones." He kissed her cheek and then proceeded to rub the tip of their noses together.

"I didn't know you were such a romantic." She smiled as her hands rubbed his back and she placed a kiss on his shoulder.

"I'm not, I just like making you feel good." He answered honestly. She nodded and then yawned as well. "It's the wine...making us all old and tired and shit. Let's sleep." Mercedes covered her mouth when another yawn came and nodded.

"Mmm, I think it's time hun, not wine." She smiled and snuggled up closer to him, she was about to say something else when the sound of Sam's deep breathing told her that he was out cold. She shook her head and pulled the blanket even more up their bodies, before she fell asleep beside her man.


	10. Chapter 10 (Final chapter)

A/N: This is the official final chapter for Mercy's Heart 2, I hope you enjoyed it and please look out for time shot chapters of the character's lives in the future (proposals, pregnancies, eloping etc). Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure and thanks to JG for all of your help. Again, thanks for all of the support from all of my readers as well. I love you guys. Please leave me reviews if you have time or, just tell me what things you enjoyed along the way or ask any questions!

* * *

Sam narrowed his eyes as he looked over the cards in his hands. He could feel the sweat beads gathering at his hairline as he licked his lips and tried to carefully think out his next move. His lips parted as if he were to utter some line, but closed just as quickly as he changed his mind.

"Sam I swear to God, if you don't ask someone for a damn card I will personally sit on you and give you a purple nurple. I'm not playing with you man." Sam looked up and stared at Dee who was straddling the dining room chair and had Stevie's baseball cap on backwards. She popped the gum that was in her mouth and looked at Stevie. "Do something about this man." Stevie laughed and looked at his brother.

"Old man...she's not kidding...Trust me." He rubbed his own chest and grimaced, "She's slightly feisty...slightly psycho. But I do love the combination." He whispered and Dee rolled her eyes as she stared at Sam. Sam looked at Mercedes who was trying not to laugh.

"Fine, you mini mutant." He mumbled in Dee's direction before turning to his girlfriend. "Mercy, do you have any fours? Think carefully and remember...I'm a lawyer, I can smell deceit a mile away." Mercedes rolled her eyes and smirked. She tapped her finger against her lip and took her sweet time in answering. Dee was about to get up and pinch her when she finally spoke.

"Go fish sucka." Mercedes laughed and high fived her younger sister who in turn stuck her tongue out at Stevie. "You Evans men SUCK at this game. Is it because ya'll are blonde?" Stevie and Sam both looked insulted at her comment and then looked at each other. "Just saying. I mean, I've won once and Dee's won twice...and ya'll...nilch." Sam cracked his neck and picked up a card from the deck in the middle.

"Um, maybe it's because you two are _the most _competitive scary small people we have ever met." Sam stated haughtily as he bit into a nacho. Stevie nodded.

"Hear hear!" He reached over and fist bumped Sam. Dee stared at her boyfriend who returned the look back at her. "Don't give me that look little one." Dee shook her head and laughed.

"How can someone even _be_ competitive playing Go fish?" Mercedes laughed with her sister and stared at the brothers in disbelief.

"Uh, considering that you two walked up in here playing Queen's _We are the champion's_ from your phone before we even sat the hell down, tells me that you two..." He pointed at Mercedes and Dee. "...Are competitive as fuck." The sisters burst out into laughter.

"They mad?" Mercedes turned to look at Dee.

"Oh, they mad!" Dee replied with a snort as they looked at their partners. "Let's treat them to our anthem." The siblings stood up and smiled at each other before breaking out into the 'Sister, sister' theme song. When they finished they both laughed and fist bumped each other.

"Really?...that just happened?" Sam stated with a laugh as he shook his head in disbelief.

In perfect unison, the sister's smiles dropped. "GO HOME ROGER!" Turning on their heels they walked out of the living room and went upstairs to Sam's bedroom. Sam and Stevie sat there stunned.

"They do know that I live here right?" Sam looked at the space where they had been standing. Stevie shrugged. "Like they are aware...that I pay the mortgage here?"

"Don't think it matters old man." He laughed and let out a long yawn. Sam looked at his brother and leaned back in his chair. He could see that Stevie looked exhausted and had slightly dark bags under his eyes, but overall he looked at ease and content.

"You okay little bro?" Stevie looked up at Sam and laughed.

"Yea, why?" Stevie rubbed a hand over his face.

"You look worn out man." Sam leaned forward and collected the cards. "What's going on?" If something was bothering his younger brother he wanted to know all about it. If it was something like money problems or problems at his clinic, then he wanted to know.

Stevie laughed and shook his head. "Oh, yea. It's Dee...we don't sleep...like ever. AND IT'S AMAZING." Stevie's eyes grew in astonishment. "It's like...we've been making up for the lost time or something and it's glorious, well except for that one time." Sam's eyebrows rose in curiosity. Stevie sighed and tried to hold back a laugh. "Just...don't try doing any freaky flips with your partner when you have massage oils on your hands. It's very dangerous and you will drop your partner on the ground." Sam burst out into loud laughter as he visualised what had happened. "Yea, it was bad. I have to take her to the hospital tomorrow." Stevie said sadly which sobered Sam up.

"Woah why? Damn Stevie, what did you do?" Sam shook his head.

"So, when she fell she might have bumped her head and she's been getting some serious headaches and because of her accident and everything we just want to make sure she's alright. She doesn't want to go, but I'm making her, I need to make sure she's okay." Sam grinned at his younger brother and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing man, just sounds like you and mini Jones are getting kind of serious." Sam smirked and Stevie laughed. Sam was happy to see his brother like this, even if he was tired.

"Yea man...I care for the mini me, she helps me out at the clinic and stuff. My client's, humans and animals alike, love her." He smiled. "We're freakishly good for each other. Plus her mom loves me." Sam frowned at the mention of the eldest Jones member. Stevie noticed the look and let out a long whistle. "Oh yea...she hates you right? never mind!" Sam groaned and put his head on the table.

"I'm going to go talk to her, make her sit the hell down, and listen to me." Sam mumbled into the table before he raised his head. "I'm not going to try to make her love me, but I'm going to tell her that I'm good for Mercedes and I've come a long way bro. I don't need her approval, but I at least owe it to her to tell her that I love her daughter and will stick by her through and fucking through."

"Okay...just make sure she knows that not all the Evans men are insane...just you." Sam rolled his eyes and planned out the speech that he was going to give to Mrs. Jones. He knew that she at least knew that he and Mercedes were together, but he could tell that she wasn't too pleased about it. Whenever Mercedes was on the phone with her mother, she had to excuse herself from the room and he could hear her bickering with her. Sighing, he stood up and walked into the kitchen to get another beer. "Don't worry man, it'll work out. Oh and to add to your list of shit, we need to introduce our ladies to mom and dad." Sam groaned.

"Man can't you just buy dad another device?!" Sam yelled from the fridge. When he walked back into the living room, Stevie was glaring at him. "Shit, why are you looking at me like I stole your last twinkie?"

Stevie ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair, "Mom has already threatened to remove me from the will okay. I'm not buying dad anything else electronic, he better get used to ties and books from now on." Sam laughed as he sat back down. "Oh, you think I'm kidding? Just watch."

"Well I bought dad a kindle for his next birthday, so he shouldn't go too crazy over it." Stevie shook his head.

"Good luck man. Good luck. Mom is going to kill dad and it will be your fault." The two brothers continued to talk about how they planned to tell their parents about their beautiful girlfriends while they dealt out the cards to play another game together.

While they spoke downstairs, the Jones sisters laid down on the large bed upstairs and gossiped. "...Mhm right on the damn ground, Merce I swear to God I saw the light! Jesus was telling me to come home and then I felt something cold on my head and there was Stevie standing over me with a washcloth, butt ass _nekkid_. I sat up from the fright and head butted his ding a ling, man couldn't pee straight for a week."

Mercedes rolled on the bed with laughter as Dee continued her story. "So my head hurts and he's down Merce, this big man is down and out on the ground, clutching his thing, moaning about 'my babies, my babies' and I'm so out of it I'm hearing something about rabies and I'm like who the hell has rabies Stevie! Who you been sleeping with?! After that got cleared up, and for the life of me I don't know why this idea came up, but I thought that putting polysporin on his tang tang would help it feel better, so you see me and my naked ass crawling to the bathroom, reaching for a damn tube." Mercedes held her side as she continued to laugh, there were tears coming out of her eyes. "Now ask me if I READ THE LABEL,"

"Did you read the..." Mercedes started.

"Nope! I poured a big glob of the cream on my hand and started stroking the man down. Next thing I know my hand is hot, I was like oh lord Jesus it's a fire, I looked down at the tube, as my eyes adjusted, and I am holding Ben Gay in my damn hand Merce. Let me tell you something, never in my life have I heard a man scream as loud and as high as Stevie did on the ground" She laughed and shook her head. "...so that's why I'm going to the hospital tomorrow because I might have a concussion. Moral of the story, do not let a man massage you and then try to spin you around like a damn pizza. You could die." Dee finished her story and kissed her teeth as Mercedes tried to breathe.

"Oh my God, only you sis, only you." Mercedes sighed as she finally calmed down.

"Then he bought me a damn swimming cap when I asked him for a shower cap so that we could have the nasty in the shower. I said are you crazy this would pull my tracks out, you know that man turned to me, gave me a look, and then asked me if I was talking about 'train tracks?'. I don't know man...I don't know, sometimes he just drives me insane, but I like him so much Merce. So so much." She sighed and pulled off the baseball hat. "I asked him if I could wear his lucky baseball hat and he actually said yea, and in my head I'm singing, 'well we're movin on up, to the eastside, with a deluxe apartment in the skyyyy." Mercedes shook her head and laughed before looking at her vibrating phone and rolled her eyes. "What?"

"It's mom...I don't want to have to deal with her yelling at me about Sam right now and telling me that she's going to pray for me in church." Mercedes sighed and leaned her head on her sisters' shoulder. "I get that she doesn't like Sam, but she better get used to the idea that he's here and he's here to stay. I love her, but she's too much sometimes." Dee nodded.

"Yea, the other day she asked Stevie if Sam was unstable growing up. He didn't like that question very much, he actually set her straight. He was like 'considering that our parents died in a tragic fire and my nine year old brother assumed entire responsibility of me and tried to protect me from everything in life up until a few months ago...I think he was a lot more grounded than most kids his age'. I was just like damn Stevie, don't hurt her now. But in the back of my head I'm like he's trying to get me killed." Dee shook her head. "At that very moment,I had flashbacks of the slipper and I swear to you I saw mama's foot twitch, but all she did was nod and say 'oh I didn't know all of that.' So my boyfriend may have broke mom and I'm okay with that."

Mercedes slightly chuckled as she thought about what she needed to do to fix things. But even though she told her mother countless times that Sam was amazing, she just didn't want to listen. If anyone was going to defend Sam, it would need to be him and him alone.

* * *

Sam waited by the apartment building's front door for half an hour before someone finally let him into the apartment building. He had bought groceries and was pretending to fumble with his keys as he held them so that one woman ended up letting him inside. He waited for her to leave before he looked at the directory and found the apartment number that he was looking for. Hopping into the elevator, Sam was surprised that he did not feel in the least bit nervous to have this conversation. After having thought long and hard about it, he realised that his feelings for Mercedes would trump any negativity heading their way. He walked out of the elevator and after five minutes or so found the door he was looking for. Taking a deep breath, he knocked loudly on the door and held the grocery bag in front of his face.

"Who is it?" He heard the muffled voice.

"It's Stevie with some groceries for you. Dee said you might want some." He tried to fake his brother's voice and didn't really have to try too hard to do it. They sounded similar but Sam had the deeper voice out of the two. Patricia Jones opened the door.

"Oh Stevie come in, thank you so much...wait, why are you covering your face?" Sam lowered the bags and saw the smile on her face fall. "Oh." Sam expected her to yell at him or slam the door in his face, but all she did was take a step back and let him inside. Sam's eyes searched around and stared at her hands to see if she was holding mace or something. "You can put the bags down on the table over there." She pointed to a dining room table in the corner. Sam quickly walked over and placed the bags that carried an assortment of fruits and vegetables down. He turned around to see her close the apartment door and she sat down on one of the couches in her living room. Rubbing her forehead as if tired, she spoke slowly, "What can I do for you Mr. Evans?" Sam walked over to the couch facing her and sat down. He ran a hand through his sandy hair as she stared him down. _I'm in love with your daughter, I'm in love with your daughter..._

"Do you still hate me?" _The hell? Sam get back to the plan. _That wasn't what he had intended on asking her, but the body knows what it wants. Her eyes widened in surprise and she shook her head.

"No Mr. Evans, I don't hate you. I think you might be slightly troubled but I don't hate you or anyone. Hates a very strong thing, it will only poison the soul." She clasped her hands together in her lap.

"Why don't you want me to be with Mercy?" He watched her sigh and shake her head.

"I think you need to sort out your own life before attempting to involve my daughter. But you have decided to drag her into whatever is happening with you and against my best wishes she refuses to see the problems with that. You are an angry man who has outbursts which I'm scared will escalate into possible abuse." Sam could feel his hands clench with the anger he felt at her accusation.

"I agree, I was an angry person, but I would _never_ hit Mercedes or anyone for that matter and that day that happened, almost a year ago, was a bad day for me. I haven't blown up like that since then and I don't intend to." He scoffed, "I didn't even threaten you or swear at you I just swore and ranted because I needed a damn outlet." He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't have to believe me but I love your daughter to death and I would never ever leave her wanting. I will take care of her because she means the world to me and we're going to therapy together to grow together."

He stood up. "Look Mrs. Jones, you don't have to agree with me being with your daughter, but you know what, I know my worth and I'm worth a damn lot, I've been through hell and back and I'm not going to let you drag me back down when I've fucking risen as far as I have. I won't let you take my accomplishments away from me because you can't seem to leave the past in the past and forget. I already apologized to you and I don't intend to again. You don't have to want me around, but get used to it, because I will be here, I will be around for as long as she wants me." He looked at the groceries on the table. "Your daughter has made her choice in the matter and I would appreciate it if you could just support her happiness."

"Excuse me Mr. Evans. All I want for my daughters is for them to be happy. Do you know how hard it was to raise those two girls on my own? It was damn hard! I had to watch my husband die in front of me and leave me with what? Two daughters and not even a damn cent to our name. Don't get me wrong, my husband was one of the greatest men I have ever known, he would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it, but he never planned on getting sick, we didn't have enough money to save, to prepare ourselves for what happened...this is a scary world Mr. Evans, people go missing every day, young people are killed senselessly, and I had to leave my two little girls home alone while I delivered papers or cleaned apartments at night. Do you know the paralyzing effect that fear can have on you? Not knowing if something would go wrong while you're out late at night, if your children would become orphans all because of a freak accident. I have had my own hardships too, so you DO NOT get to tell me what I should or shouldn't do." She stood up as well and walked right up to him. "I'm trying my best to give up that control, but when it was the only thing in my life that kept me from falling apart, it's not so easy to let go." Sam stared at her with wide eyes and took a deep breath.

"I can't imagine having to do all of that by myself, but I do know how it feels to want to do all you can to protect the people you love...my circumstances weren't as intense as yours, but they were hard and I know how difficult it is to give up control and cut the apron strings...It wasn't my place to tell you what to do. I apologize."

Patricia Jones wiped her eyes and nodded. "Stevie told me what you had to deal with as a child and you should have never had to bear that weight on your shoulders, especially at such a young age." She sighed and rubbed her hands together. "I will stop telling Mercedes to leave you, she's an adult and I don't want to push my eldest child away from me. If she thinks that you're what's best for her...then I can't stop her again, I can only hope that I raised her well enough to make the right decisions. But if I ever hear that you hurt her, I will be on you like white on rice, now do I make myself clear Mr. Evans?" Sam nodded and held his hand out for her to shake. "I don't particularly like you yet, but I don't do handshakes, I do hugs," She reached up and pulled him down into a solid hug. "You take care of my daughter Sam, ya'll need to take care of each other." She pulled back and stared at him. Without another word she walked over to a small table, reached into a drawer, and threw something at him that he surprisingly caught quickly out of the air. He opened his hand and smiled. "Now I have to be getting ready for work, if you have nothing else to say for now, then..." Sam nodded and headed towards the door.

He turned around and looked at her. "Oh um, before I forget, we're going to have a dinner soon with my parents, Stevie, Dee, and Mercy will be there. It would be nice if you could come. I can send you the details." Patricia Jones nodded and looked at the time.

"We'll see." She said hesitantly and by the tone of her voice, Sam just knew that she wouldn't be coming, but he appreciated that she didn't just say no.

"Alright then, goodbye Mrs. Jones." He stepped out of the apartment and closed the door behind him. He looked down at his hand again, unwrapped the candy, and popped the familiar chocolate into his mouth as he headed to the elevator.

* * *

Sam and Stevie walked down the sidewalk together and looked at each other from the corner of their eyes. Sam fixed his tie and Stevie adjusted his dress pants as they approached the door. "Okay so who's going to knock?" Sam asked his younger brother. Stevie rolled his eyes and knocked on the wooden door. They stood there for a few moments before Diane Wallace stuck her head out from the door and pulled both men into a tight hug at the same time. "Hey mom." Sam said as he was slowly being strangled.

"Can't...breathe." Stevie choked out and she let them go. The brothers gasped for air as she smiled warmly at them. "Hey mom."

"What are you guys doing here? It's not Friday yet." She looked at their expressions. "Is everyone okay?" Sam and Stevie both nodded and smiled.

"Yea, we're okay, we're just here to talk to you guys about something." Stevie said calmly and she raised an eyebrow before letting them into the house. "Is dad around?" The taller blonde asked.

"Joe!" Their mother yelled loudly. "Yea he's around here somewhere with that gadget of his. He's been trying to fix it, since I accidentally spilled milk on it the other day." She smiled a wicked grin.

"But mom I gave you the warranty for it." Stevie said in confusion. Diane narrowed her eyes at her youngest son. "I mean...what warranty?" Sam laughed and shook his head.

"I'll tell him eventually...just not this year." She smiled sweetly as her husband walked out from the kitchen and stared at his sons. "The boy's are here to talk to us Joe." He clutched Bertha to his chest as he looked between the two of them.

"Who died?" Sam rolled his eyes and Stevie laughed. "I'm serious it's not Friday...did you kill someone?" He looked pointedly at Sam who was immediately insulted.

"Why're you looking at me for?" Joe laughed and sat down on the couches, the other three followed and Diane sat beside her husband and the two Evans brothers sat on the opposite couch. "Seriously, do I look violent?" Joe looked at his wife from the corner of his eyes.

"No no, we just assumed that if one of you ended up killing someone it'd probably be you just because you were the angrier one." Sam narrowed his eyes. "It was a long time ago!"

"Sam calm down, it's not a huge deal. Uh, we just have something to talk about."Stevie interjected before a war broke out between Sam and Joe.

"Are you gay?" Joe asked seriously. Stevie paused and stared at him.

"What?!" He said in a high squeaky voice. Diane leaned forward and studied the flush that was creeping up Stevie's neck.

"I knew it! Pay up Joe." She turned to her husband. "A mother just knows these things." Joe fished in his pockets for the money.

"I'm not gay I have a girlfriend, we both do...you placed a bet that I was gay!?" Stevie stared at the older couple in shock as Sam laughed in the background.

"Stevie, calm down. it's not a big deal." Sam rolled his eyes. "Least they didn't think you were the murderer."

"Now we never thought that, we just said if one of you became one, it'd probably be you. But that doesn't make us love you any less." Diane smiled warmly at the two brothers who were pouting across from her. "Stevie, I was obviously kidding..." She handed the money back to Joe. "I'll pay you later," she whispered from the corner of her mouth to her husband.

"Anyways, so you two have girlfriends? How'd that happen?" Joe leaned forward. Sam shook his head. "That sounded bad, but I mean, how did you meet them?" Stevie looked at Sam and then back at his foster parents.

"Well remember that nurse that Sam and I...had issues over awhile back?" Joe's eyes grew wide and he looked at the two men.

"Are you two in some type of polyandry agreement with this woman? Because I can assure you that one of you will kill each other." His eye roamed back to Sam, who in turn gave him serious cut eye. "I'm not saying who...but the stronger one will survive."

"What? No! I'm dating her younger sister and Sam's dating the nurse." The older couple stared at them for a moment in silence as Sam and Stevie cast nervous glances at each other.

"So...are you two into some freaky sex thing that involves siblings? Because I tell you what, back in the seventies that would have been fine, but it's kind of looked down at now." Joe stated and Diane nodded at her husband.

"Are you guys serious right now?" Stevie was getting annoyed with his foster parents. "No we're not into some freaky sex thing or swingers or whatever we're just two brothers that happen to be dating sisters. Rare as it is, it's not uncommon."

"Yea Mercedes and I realised, after playing cat and Usain Bolt, that we were meant for each other. Stevie realised that he was deeply attracted to Delores and those two ended up together, it's rare but it happens once in awhile. I've seen twins marrying other twins." Sam finished his statement off with a shrug, he wasn't sure why everything was so difficult for his foster parent's to understand.

"When in the hell did you meet Usain Bolt? Did he do the pose?" Joe said excitedly as he completely missed the rest of what Sam had just explained.

"Is he really tall, because he looks like a big friendly giant on tv." Diane laughed along with her husband.

"You know, I remember when you used to be the sane one mom. Remember those days?" Sam took a big sniff of the air and his jaw dropped, he smelled something in the air. Stevie looked over at his brother. "Are you two HIGH?" Diane and Joe stared blankly at the two blondes before Diane started to laugh.

Joe looked insulted. "What?! I am a man of the law, I am not high." Diane laughed and shook her head.

"I made some herbal tea earlier, but I don't recall seeing marijuana listed in the ingredients." She shrugged. "We're just really happy to see you boys and now we know you have someone special in your lives...it's a good feeling. But in our defense you did mention Usain Bolt." Stevie laughed along with his parents and Sam squinted his eyes. People always forgot that he could tell when someone was lying to him.

"When are we meeting these ladies of yours?" Joe asked as he leaned back into the couch.

"I can bring Mercedes by sometime next week if that's okay with you guys?" Both Joe and Diane nodded and then looked over at Stevie.

"I'll see what Dee's schedule is like and call you to let you know." He grinned at the older couple, "Oh! Before I forget, we were thinking that we could all go to dinner after you meet them. Just a nice way of being together you know? Being a family." Diane pressed her fingers to her mouth and stood up to hug Stevie tightly before moving on to Sam.

"That's a perfect idea. Let's do it and let's meet these beautiful women." She pat their legs and Sam and Stevie nodded to each other over her head. "Right Joe?"

"Right-o, Stevie did you ever get a warranty for Bertha?" He stared at the device in his hand and Stevie glanced at his mother's warning look.

"I don't...remember." He said slowly. "Anyways, Sam and I have to be off, we have some fun dinner plans planned. But we'll pop by on Friday as usual." They stood up and were escorted to the door by Diane.

"Be safe and we'll see you soon." Sam and Stevie kissed her cheek before heading out and hopping into Sam's car. Diane closed the door and turned to look at her husband with a chuckle.

"Dammnit Joe, I knew they would smell the weed!"

* * *

Sam and Mercedes walked into the restaurant and spoke to the hostess standing at the front. "Table for seven please." Mercedes asked politely. Due to the large size of their party, they were asked to stand to the side as their tables would need to be cleaned and pushed together. Sam wrapped the shorter woman up into his arms and leaned his chin against the top of her head. "It's really sad that you're actually able to do that you know." She complained. He grinned and placed a quick kiss to her nose.

"What?! I love that I can do that. What chu talkin about Jones?" He did his best impersonation of Arnold from Diff'rent Strokes. "I like that you're shorter than me."

"Yea, but not when you call me half pint you ass." She laughed and tilted her head up for him to lean down and give her a quick kiss. As they spoke quietly to each other, Stevie and Dee walked in holding hands and laughing about something.

"Hey folks." The taller blonde man grinned and hugged his brother and then Mercedes. Dee followed suit and did the same. "Are we just standing here enjoying the ambiance?" He grinned and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Unless the ambiance is fucking edible, I don't really care for it." Sam laughed and looked at the hostess who was giving him a dirty look. He rolled his eyes and moved closer to Mercedes. "Whatever you do, don't eat any food from me. I feel like I might be poisoned tonight." Mercedes laughed and smacked his chest.

"Oh stop, no you won't." She laughed and watched as Dee buried her face against Stevie's firm chest. She smiled at the sight of them, they looked so content and happy together, it warmed her heart to see how far they had come.

"Your seating for seven is now available." The hostess smiled at everyone, but Sam, as she escorted them to their table to sit down. Mercedes looked at Sam and her eyes widened.

"Yea...maybe I'll just eat my own food tonight. Nobody sample food from Sam's plate ya'll." She laughed as Sam groaned. Both he and Stevie pulled out the chairs for the two women before they sat down beside them. Dee looked around the table.

"Wait, why is there an extra chair?" She looked at Mercedes, who in turn was just as confused.

"I have no idea, Sam just told me seven." She looked at her boyfriend who shrugged in return. He was hoping that her mom would come to join them, but didn't want to disappoint her if things didn't work out. His eyes scanned the menu when he looked up to see Joe and Diane walking towards them. Everybody stood up to hug and greet each other before they sat back down and took off their coats.

"This is a fine place. Do you think they have free Wifi?" He asked Sam, who looked at Diane, who was glaring at her husband. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Bertha's not even here." The group somehow separated in terms of discussion, where the women all spoke to each other and the men told some work stories. The waitress came by to ask them for their drink orders and Sam looked towards the door. He sighed and ordered a beer for himself before the waitress left. He pulled out his cellphone to put it on silent when it dropped out of his hand. He leaned over to pick it up from under the table when he heard the table become silent.

"Mama?" He heard Mercedes' surprised voice and immediately looked up to see Mrs. Jones standing at the side of the table looking elegant in a nice dress. "What...?" She looked over at Sam and then at the seventh chair.

Sam stood up to pull the chair back for her, when Joe put his hand out and got up to do it himself. "Well aren't you a gorgeous woman!" Joe exclaimed as Patricia Jones sat down with a laugh. "You must be Mercedes' and Dee's older sister." There was an audible groan throughout the table at the comment and Mercedes shook her head but smiled.

"I like that, let's go with it." She laughed and shook hands with Joe and Diane. "I'm Patricia Jones, the big sister of those two. You must be the big sister of the boys." She said to Diane who laughed.

"No no," Diane smiled before sipping some water. "I'm the younger sister." The two older women burst out into laughter and immediately jumped into a comfortable conversation. Sam looked at them and smiled, he could only hope that in due time, things would be better between himself and Mrs. Jones. His phone vibrated and he immediately looked down at it to open the message.

**_You invited my mom to dinner?-Mercy_**

Sam looked up at her and nodded.

**_Why?-Mercy_**

He stared at his phone and slowly typed.

**_Your mom is a big part of your life and you're a big part of mine. I wanted to bring the two worlds together, like a large estranged family. I knew that having your mom be here would make you happy, and until the day I die, I want to make you happy and I'll do whatever I can to do that.-Sam_**

He watched her as she read the text and when she looked up he saw that she had tears in her eyes. She mouthed the words _I love you_ to him and he smiled and mouthed them back. After everything that they had been through, after the drama, the fights, the pain, the lies, everything... Sam Evans could finally say, he had claimed Mercy's heart.

Ps: If you want to see something in a time shot, like maybe a chapter where Dee and Stevie babysit or something, let me know, I'm open to suggestions.


End file.
